School of Architecture Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Course Syllabi

ARCH-6941Title: Doctoral Seminar II (Spring Term)

Credits: 2 Term: Fall 2008 Spring 2009

Class Schedule:Tuesdays 12:00 pm-1:50 pm

Instructor(s): Jonas Braasch, Ted Krueger, Mark Mistur

Office Location: Greene 203,Campus Tel: 518-276-3864

Office Hours:Tuesday 10:00 am-12:00 pmEmail:

webpage:

Time and place of instructor’s office hours. Also must be posted outside of your office.

Course Description:

This seminar cultivates a multi-disciplinary approach to the development of problem definitions and research methods and is a continuation of the Fall Course, Doctoral Seminar I. The topics being considered will be drawn from and situated between the various fields that support doctoral study in architectural sciences, as well as activities in related fields in engineering, science, and the humanities. Case studies of prototypical architectural-science research will evaluate current practice, identifying the state of knowledge within the field and the resources and settings necessary to support the research activity. The course is intended to help doctoral students in carrying out their research projects and familiarizing themselves with their possible future role as academic advisors. Students will have the opportunity in this class to present and test their talks before presenting them at a conference.

Reading Materials:

No textbook. Reading material will be handed out during the course. Most of the reading material will be selected by the students under guidance of the instructors during the course.

Exams / Major Papers / Assignments Due Dates / Review Dates:

Week 1: Orientation. During the first week, we will introduce the course content and discuss the schedule for upcoming exams.

Week 2: Thesis outline. The participants will be asked to present an outline of their thesis (as best as they can in their current situation). The outline should contain the following:

(i) Title, (ii) Abstract, (iii) Breakdown of the individual chapters, (iv) Current literature section.The outline should be formatted using RPI’s template, to initiate a working document.

Week 3: Individual Time Table Discussion. The participants will be asked to present three time-tables in class: (i) One that covers the planning research work for the coming semester, (ii) Another one that covers the research plans for the summer (for the students who intend to stay on campus), (iii) A master plan that roughly describes the planned activities over the whole dissertation project (including current status, previous achievements, and expected duration of the project).

Week 4: HASS Fellowships: We will meet with masters’ students who are submitting an application for the HASS fellowship. The participants of the seminar will be asked to review the applications and discuss them critically with the applicants. During this class, we will discuss general strategies on how to write the winning proposal.

Week 5: General meeting: Meeting with student’s advisors and advanced PhD students. We will discuss the progress of all PhD students, and discuss current scientific topics.

Week 6: General Journal Paper Discussion. Each student will be asked to propose one journal paper on an architectural topic that is general enough for all attendees to follow. Each paper will be read and discussed by the group. In particular, it should be elicited how the research methods of one field can be used in the research design in other fields (e.g., the doctoral projects of the students).

Week 7: Scientific Writing: The participants are asked to submit a short text on their work (about four pages). Both research paper manuscripts or thesis excerpts are fine. We will discuss the language and format of the texts.

Week 8-9: Experimental Methods: The participants will make a proposal for their next/first experiment. The proposal should be made in their thesis format and include a brief introduction that describes previous findings in the field, a method section, diagrams, and a brief discussion on the experimental design and risk assessment. The work and suggestions for improvement will be discussed in class.

Week 10: General Journal Paper Discussion, Part II

Week 11: General meeting: Meeting with student’s advisors and advanced PhD students. We will discuss the progress of all PhD students, and discuss current scientific topics.

Week 12-13: Presentation of the Doctoral Projects. Each student will present his/her dissertation project (45-60 min oral presentation). The presentation should include the following topics: overall goal(s), present knowledge in own field, methodology, timeline, achieved partial goals. The participants should consider the results of the previous class discussions when preparing their final presentations. A discussion (20-30 min.) follows each presentation.

Week 14: Conclusion. In the last class, we will discuss and conclude the course results. The participants will be asked to evaluate the usefulness of each week’s topic. Altogether, we will discuss new topics for the seminar of the coming semester.

Fall 2008 Semester Schedule

Week 1 / Orientation
Week 2 / Thesis outline
Week 3 / Time Table Discussion
Week 4 / HASS Fellowships
Week 5 / General meeting
Week 6 / no class
Week 7 / General Journal Paper Discussion
Week 8 / Scientific writing
Week 9 / no class
Week 10 / Experimental methods
Week 11 / Experimental methods
Week 12 / General Journal Paper Discussion, Part II
Week 13 / General meeting
Week 14 / Presentation of the Doctoral Projects.
Week 15 / Presentation of the Doctoral Projects.
Week 16 / Conclusion

Course Learning Outcomes:

Participating PhD students will be guided manage their own PhD research project. After this course student should have learned to review present literature in their field critically, to develop projects to expand current knowledge in their fields and know how to disseminate their results.

Course Learning Outcomes: the primary learning outcomes the course is designated to achieve. Examples: students should be able to:
  • Identify…

  • Recognize…

  • Apply…

  • Write…

  • Solve…

  • Understand…

  • Have a basic level of understanding of …

  • Have a high level of understanding of …

Etc.
Specific assignments: at least for the first 3 weeks, longer if possible; the entire semester is best.

Attendance Policy:

There is no official attendance policy, but participation and attendance will be factored into the final grade as noted in the Grading Policy. Experience has shown that since nearly all of the course material is taught, discussed, and practiced in class, students who miss even two or three classes have difficulty keeping up.

Grading Policy:

Oral Participation 40%

Individual Time Tables10%

Thesis outline& excerpt15%

General Journal Paper Discussion10%

Presentation of the Doctoral Project 25%

Assessment progress:

Homework assignments typically will be distributed every week during class and are due within one week. Late assignments will only be accepted without penalty if the student has given prior notice to the instructor. Valid reasons for an extension include severe illnesses and death in the family. Without such notice, 10% will be deducted for each day late, and no credit will be given for assignments submitted after solutions have been posted. Homework assignments will be graded on the quality as well as the presentation of the content.

Academic Integrity:

Student-teacher relationships are built on trust. For example, students must trust that teachers have made appropriate decisions about the structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers must trust that the assignments that students turn in are their own. Acts, which violate this trust, undermine the educational process. The Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and responsibilities ( various forms of Academic Dishonesty and you should make yourself familiar with these. In this class, all assignments that are turned in for a grade must represent the student’s own work. In cases where help was received, or teamwork was allowed, a notation on the assignment should indicate your collaboration. The collaboration policy will be announced for each assignment.Submission of any assignment that is in violation of this policy will be punishedaccording to institute policy. If you have any question concerning this policy before submitting an assignment, please ask for clarification.

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