Project: Social innovation, social change and sustainable transition

F2026

Social Entrepreneurship and Management

Project

Mandatory

English

Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk

You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage.

Registration for project-exam: Please remember to confirm your registration by signing up for exam as a group when the group formation is final. The registration is through STADS Online Student Service

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.

15

Christine Revsbech (crevsbech@ruc.dk)

Christine Revsbech (crevsbech@ruc.dk)

IMT Registration & Exams (imt-exams@ruc.dk)

U60220

In the project work the students work with a self-selected and formulated research problem related to the main topics of the semester, social innovation, social change or sustainable transition, by applying one or more of the theoretical and practical approaches to the subject. Students get to work with project-oriented work processes and to apply relevant qualitative and/or quantitative social science methods in relation to social innovation and social change.

Project formation:

The project work begins with project formation, which is facilitated by teachers and runs over the course of two or three days. This process entails various activities such as reading of project reports, presentation of the formal requirements for the project, the project work guidelines, as well as idea generation and development in plenary and in smaller groups. We encourage and expect students to go openly into group formation, to listen to other students when discussing project ideas and generally to take responsibility for the success of the process for all involved parties. Students are expected to take initiative themselves and attempt to find group members to collaborate with and to collectively take responsibility for finding groups for all students based on the principle that no group is formed until everybody is in a group.

The activities in the project formation process all aim to support students in forming sustainable project groups based on the students’ interests within the frame of the programme’s module description. They include:

• Share ideas and interests related to project work.
• To collaboratively identify themes, which can be turned into interesting and relevant academic problems.
• Discuss and develop these ideas to develop and refine them – all ideas are collectively refined through discussion.
• By the end to form groups based on students’ shared interest around a problem/theme.

Project work in groups:

The project work is conducted in groups of 2-7 students. It is expected that all students contribute actively to the professional collective learning community through for example facilitation of groups meetings, lifting agreed tasks and by giving constructive feedback to their peers. We recommend that students actively use the book Olsen P.B., & Pedersen, K. (2019) Problem-oriented Project Work: A Workbook (5th ed.). Samfundslitteratur.

Supervision:

After project and group formation the groups will have a supervisor assigned. The aim of supervision is to support the project work through feedback and constructive critique to help the group progress with their project work. The supervision is centred around the students’ problem formulation and under concern for the students’ freedom to choose theories and method within the frame of the module’s project description.

The groups are expected to independently manage the project, which includes taking the initiative to meet with the supervisor and to send an agenda and reading instructions prior to supervision meetings. The groups are also expected to engage in a dialogue on agreement and expectations with regards to the collaboration with the supervisor. The number of supervision hours depends on the group size and are specified in the project work guidelines, which are shared on Moodle.

Midterm evaluation:

The project work is supported by a midterm evaluation The aim of the midterm evaluation is to support the projects through feedback from other students and supervisors as well as to give and receive constructive feedback. Besides, the midterm evaluation works as preparation for the exam in the sense that students get a chance to practice receiving formative feedback on their oral presentations and discussions of the project. It is part of the training in given oral presentations and participating in discussion of dimensions of the project.

Competency reflection:

A competency reflection must be submitted with the project on all modules. It is an individual reflection on the learning and competency development through the course of the studies. It has the aim of supporting students in articulating their competency development and progression throughout the programme. It is meant as a tool that the students can use to create an overview and construct and overview of their progression from one semester to the next.

The details about the competency reflection are described in the project work guidelines, which are shared on Moodle.

There is no common syllabus for project work. Students themselves select relevant literature for their project work.

We recommend that students actively use the books - The Group Project: How to do it by K. A. Sørensen and E. Bendix. - Olsen, P. B., & Pedersen, K. (2019). Problem-oriented Project Work: A Workbook (5th ed.). Samfundslitteratur.

The project work is organised in groups established based on academic topics and interests at the beginning of the semester.

Study intensity

Outline:

The project corresponds to 15 ECTS = 405 working hours per student. Students are expected to spend approximately an average of 20 working hour per week and to work on the project throughout the semester, but most intensively in the second half of the semester.

Working hours related to specified activities: - Competency reflection: 3 hours - Supervision meetings 4-6 hours, excluding preparation - Midterm evaluation 15 hours including preparation of midterm paper and oral presentation and preparation of feedback for the feedback group - Preparation for oral presentation in exam - Exam: The exam time depends on the number of students in the group

Teaching and learning activities

• Project- and group formation
• Project work
• Supervision
• Peer feedback
• Competency reflection report
• Mid-term evaluation
• Individual reading, writing and preparation of meetings in the projectgroup

The project is evaluated by a survey by the end of the semester and orally as part of the beginning of third semester.

Project and group formation takes place in the third week of the semester. A detailed programme and description can be found on moodle.

After completing this activity, students will be able to:

• Situate, compare and assess own academic work within research and practice of social innovation, social change and sustainable transition.

• Define, apply and motivate a problem-oriented research question and a research design in a study of social innovation, social change and sustainable transition.

• Select, apply and critically assess philosophies of science, theory and empirical research methods in a study and analysis in the area of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

• Collaborate to manage and organise a project on a complex interdisciplinary research question in a reflective and critical manner.

• Can independently give and receive feedback on academic texts produced by themselves or their peers.

• Can formulate a concise precis (summary, synopsis, résumé, abstract) of their own project,

• Evaluate the processes involved in the project work and reflect on their own role in this.

• Communicate the project in an academic, coherent and original manner, which expresses a personal understanding of the topic, and shows ability to analyze and synthesize information from relevant sources and integrate this into an original argumentation.

• Use primary and secondary sources critically, correct and transparently and in accordance with academically recognized standards for citations and references

Oral project exam in groups with individual assessment


Permitted group size: 2-7 students.

The character limits of the project report are:
For 2 students: 100,800-151,200 characters, including spaces.
For 3 students: 100,800-151,200 characters, including spaces.
For 4 students: 151,200-204,000 characters, including spaces.
For 5 students: 151,200-204,000 characters, including spaces.
For 6 students: 204,000-240,000 characters, including spaces.
For 7 students: 204,000-240,000 characters, including spaces.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, abstract, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude appendices.



Time allowed for the exam including time used for assessment is for:
2 students: 60 minutes.
3 students: 75 minutes.
4 students: 90 minutes.
5 students: 105 minutes.
6 students: 120 minutes.
7 students: 135 minutes.



Permitted support and preparation materials at the oral exam: All

Assessment: 7-point grading scale
Moderation: External examiner.

Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam

It will be assessed to which degree the student demonstrates:

The assessment of the project report will be based on the extent to which it:

• Demonstrates ability to define, apply and motivate a problem-oriented research question and a research design in a study of social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, solidarity economy and/or social responsibility
• Demonstrates ability to select, apply and critically assess philosophies of science, theory and empirical research methods in a study and analysis in the area of social entrepreneurship
• Demonstrates ability to select and argue for the choice of relevant theories for the research problem
• Conducts the research planned in the selected research design
• Conducts a relevant and reflective analysis of to answer the research question
• Demonstrates critical reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the selected research design and choice of theories
• Demonstrates skills in academic referencing in-text and according to academically acknowledged referencing standards in order to ensure proper academic argumentation and transparency.

The oral performance is assessed to which degree the student demonstrates:

• Ability to present and critically reflect upon the problem formulation, research design, analysis and findings of the project
• Ability to conduct a discussion of all elements of the project report including the theories and research literature used in the project

For project reports generative AI aids (GAI) are permitted in the work with the exam if the use is declared.

You must clearly declare how you have used generative artificial intelligence (GAI). This should be included as part of the methodology section. This means that you must describe how you have used GAI, e.g. for the preparatory work on the project, to ask questions and search for information, to receive feedback and criticism on your text, to carry out proofreading or to improve language and readability. It is important that you actively relate to your choice of tools in this way, as it is part of the entire process of creating the project, and thus part of your scientific method and professional communication.

The use of any specific text that is GAI-generated requires citation, just as when using all other sources from which direct quotations are used.

In the library's guide, you can see more about how to cite AI and how you can account for your use of GAI.

However, ordinary spell checking and other language suggestions, such as Word or other word processing programs, as well as programs for writing minutes and transcription, are permitted 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 using generative artificial intelligence in written exams. Read the guidelines here.