Research Methods in Computer Science (5 ECTS), 3621513

Tietojenkäsittelytieteen tutkimusmenetelmät (5 op), 3621513

Course description

Introduction to research methodology and research methods in Computer Science: experimental, quantitative, qualitative and development research. The course will cover topics such as development of relevant research questions, exploration to scientific inquiry in Computer Science, and the challenges and opportunities of multidisciplinary research. Introduction to research ethics and writing scientific reports. The course includes modules for different areas of Computer Science.

Objectives of the course

After the course, the students

Course audience

The course is an advanced level (e.g. master level) Computer Science course. The course is specifically aimed to following student groups:

Course structure

The course consits of five study modules

The Moodle platform, http://moodle.uef.fi/uef/login/index.php of UEF will be used during the course. The exact address of the course is http://moodle.uef.fi/course/view.php?id=973. The Moodle will include course exercises, learning materials and tools for communication. The course exercises will also be submitted and graded via the Moodle.

Lectures and exercises

Teachers: Markku Tukainen, Pekka Kilpeläinen and Jarkko Suhonen. Course assistants: Minnamari Naumanen and Amit Roy

Lectures: 24 h, starting from Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 10-12 (week 36)

Exercise sessions: 8 h of exercises, starting from week 37

The course consists of a set of exercises that are distributed to the Study Modules 1-2 and 4.5. The exercises will be submitted via the Moodle environment. Details about the exercise sessions will be given in the beginning of the course.

Tentative schedule of the lectures

Topic Schedule Teacher
Module 1: Introduction to Scientific Research in Computer Science week 36, 2*2h of lectures Markku Tukiainen
Module 2: Quantitative Research Methods in Computer Science week 37 and week 38, 4*2h of lectures Markku Tukiainen
Module 3: Research Methods in Algotithmic Computer Science week 39, 2*2h of lectures Pekka Kilpeläinen
Module 4: Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research in Computer Science week 40, 2*2h of lectures Jarkko Suhonen
Module 5: Family of Design and Development Research Methods week 41, 2*2h of lectures Jarkko Suhonen

Tentative schedule of the exercises

Topic Schedule Teacher
Module 1: Introduction to Scientific Research in Computer Science week 37, September 17, 12-14. Minnamari Naumanen, Amit Roy
Module 2: Quantitative Research Methods in Computer Science week 39, October 1, 12-14. Minnamari Naumanen, Amit Roy
Module 4: Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research in Computer Science week 41, October 15, 12-14. Minnamari Naumanen, Amit Roy
Module 5: Family of Design and Development Research Methods week 42, October 22, 12-14. Minnamari Naumanen, Amit Roy

Evaluation

More information about the evaluation will be given in the beginning of the course.

Registeration

Sign up for the course via the Weboodi system (Code: 3621513, Name of the course in weboodi: (JOENSUU): Tietojenkäsittelytieteen tutkimusmenetelmät.). The deadline for registaration is Tuesday, September 7 at 16:00.

  1. students in the IT teacher master studies specialisation field (mandatory course)
  2. PhD students at the School of Computing
  3. IMPIT/CIMET students
  4. master students at the School of Computing

Learning materials

Online learning materials, lecture notes. Literature: Fincher & Petre (2004) Computer Science Education Research; Olivier (2009) Information Technology Research; Creswell (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd. Ed.); Yin (1994) Case Study Research; Design and Methods (2nd Ed.).


Additional information

Jarkko Suhonen firstname.lastname@uef.fi


Last updated: September 3, 2010