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| Title |
Entering the field, methods and philosophy of science
|
| Semester |
E2025
|
| Master programme in |
Social Entrepreneurship and Management
|
| Type of activity |
Course |
| Mandatory or elective |
Mandatory |
| Teaching language |
English
|
| Study regulation |
Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk |
| REGISTRATION AND STUDY ADMINISTRATIVE | |
| Registration |
You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage. When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts and overlaps between course and exam time and dates. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programmes, which should not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programmes, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose. |
| Number of participants |
|
| ECTS |
5
|
| Responsible for the activity |
Christine Revsbech (crevsbech@ruc.dk)
|
| Head of study |
Christine Revsbech (crevsbech@ruc.dk)
|
| Teachers |
|
| Study administration |
IMT Registration & Exams (imt-exams@ruc.dk)
|
| Exam code(s) |
U60689
|
| ACADEMIC CONTENT | |
| Overall objective |
The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge and academic tools to study and do their own research in the field of social entrepreneurship. The course provides a basis for students’ knowledge of and own research in the field of social entrepreneurship. The workshop offers insight into social entrepreneurship and social enterprises and its leadership and management in the wake of global transformations and challenges. The workshop also prepares students to do their own research through problem-oriented project work. Furthermore, the course trains the students to select between key philosophies of science aiming at deepening students’ understanding and application of methodologies relevant to the field. |
| Detailed description of content |
The central themes of the course This workshop offers an introduction to the social entrepreneurship/social enterprise/social economy as a research field. Social entrepreneurship is a vibrant and diverse practice-oriented field where citizens engage in on-the ground processes of developing socially innovative organisations and projects, based on societal problems. At the same time, social entrepreneurship is also a growing and diverse research field. The course aims at positioning and rooting social entrepreneurship within relevant theories of social science and exploring the relevance of ontological and epistemological implications in a research design in social entrepreneurship research field. The course introduces key philosophies of science, such as critical realism, social constructivism, hermeneutics and phenomenology, as well as key aspects of qualitative methodologies, including research ethics and data analysis. It discusses epistemologies (such as epistemologies of the South), critical research designs, as well as problem-oriented project work. Through workshops building on case studies of social enterprises as well as students’ own research projects, the key direction of the course is to deepen students’ understanding of how methodological, ontological and epistemological choices frame social entrepreneurship research. Finally, the course supports students’ reflection and articulation of learning and competencies in relation to their role as researchers in social entrepreneurship. |
| Course material and Reading list |
|
| Overall plan and expected work effort |
Study intensity 5 ECTS = 135 hours: 48 hours of teaching activities where of some is class teaching (4 hours per session) and some is follw-up activities in clusters (2 hours per session). 20 hours for writing portfolio exam paper. App. 67 hours for reading and preparing for classes. This is equal to an average of 8 hours of preparation per class. Preparation for class includes reading and preparing written or oral presentations and follow-up after classes with taking reflection notes for the portfolio. Teaching and learning activities:
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| Format |
|
| Evaluation and feedback |
The course is evaluated with an individual survey and with an oral evaluation in class of the last session of the course. There is continuous alignment of expectations and feedback throughout the course via joint discussions. At the end of the course, students will conduct an oral evaluation that is summarized in writing and sent to the semester coordinator (to inform the head of study and the study board). In this semester, the course is also evaluated on a survey basis as part of the study board's evaluation practice. The evaluation practice includes a survey-based evaluation of all teaching activities at least every three years as a supplement to the other forms of evaluation. Read more about the evaluation practice on the study board's page on the intranet. It is important that you contribute to the evaluations. The teacher, head of studies and the study board use all evaluations to examine and follow up on quality of the programme and provide a basis for development. |
| Programme |
|
| ASSESSMENT | |
| Overall learning outcomes |
After completing this course, students will be able to:
|
| Prerequisites |
|
| Form of examination |
Individual portfolio exam
The character limit of the portfolio is 12,000-14,400 characters, including spaces. The character limits include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude appendices. The portfolio is written partially during the course. The entire portfolio must be handed in at the same time (uploaded to eksamen.ruc.dk). Handing in the portfolio or parts of the portfolio to the supervisor for feedback, cannot replace the upload to eksamen.ruc.dk. Assessment: Pass/Fail |
| Form of Re-examination |
Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam
|
| Type of examination in special cases |
|
| Examination and assessment criteria (implemented) |
The portfolio - both as ordinary exam and as re-exam) should contain the following sections and in total be 12.000-14.400 characters, including spaces:
The details about specific questions to be addressed in the portfolio will be presented in class and distributed on Moodle. The assessment is based on the portfolio as a whole. Assessment criteria It will be assessed to which degree the student, based on the course literature, demonstrates:
In this course, generative AI tools (GAI) are allowed in the work on the exam if their use is declared. You must clearly indicate how you have used generative artificial intelligence (GAI). This can, for example, be included as part of a methodology section or as a brief statement at the end of your exam paper. This means that you must describe how you have used GAI, for example, for preparatory work on the assignment, to ask questions, search and process information, receive feedback and critique on your text, perform proofreading, or improve language and readability. It is important that you actively consider your choice of tools in this way, as it is part of the entire creation process of the assignment and thus part of your scientific method and academic communication. The GAI declaration must be added after the reference list and is not included in the character count. The use of any specific text that is GAI-generated requires citation, just like the use of any other sources from which direct quotes are taken. In the library's guide, you can see more about how to cite AI and how you can declare your use of GAI. Regular spell check and other language suggestions, as known from Word or other word processing programs, as well as programs for notetaking and transcription, are allowed in all written exams and do not need to be declared. The use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) must always take place within the framework of 'Roskilde University's guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence in written exam'. |
| Exam code(s) | |
| Last changed | 09/09/2025 |