| Responsible Department | Department of Agriculture and Ecology
77 % Forest & Landscape 23 % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | MSc. 1 year to MSc. 2 year | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 15 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | MSc | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination and oral examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: Assessment of field report. Individual oral examination in synopsis, field report and course curriculum. Weight: Field report: 50% Oral exam: 50% 7-point scale, external examiner | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | Min. 75% participation in excercises. Participation in excursions. Active contribution to groupwork. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Teaching divided in lectures, excercises and discussions, student presentations and individual supervision. 2-3 weeks field work in developing country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 3 Week Structure: Outside schedule, Field trip in 5th, 6th and 7th week of the course. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | For logistic reasons, students must enrol by November 5th 2010. Participants must hold a relevant bachelor degree leading towards specialisation within rural development, natural resource management and sustainable land use in developing countries. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The course contents are: - Familiarising with theoretical and methodological approaches to interdisciplinary studies of natural resource management and rural livelihoods in developing countries - Enabling students to apply their own disciplinary skills in interdisciplinary problem-based group work - Training in field based investigation of concrete topics/problems - Ensuring exposure to methods from both natural and social science - Providing students the experience of working with developing country counterparts - Stimulate reflection on all the above The course is jointly organised by Faculty of Life Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University, and attracts students from a range of natural and social science disciplines. Most land use and natural resource management issues in developing countries are best approached interdisciplinary. Hence, the central theme in the course is learning and using interdisciplinary methods and theoretical approaches through problem-oriented field work in a developing country in collaboration with local counterparts. While working with students from other disciplines, students should apply their own disciplinary skills in order to address the identified topics/questions within land use, rural development and natural resource management. Close co-operation with local students will ensure exposure to working in an inter-cultural environment. The course includes training in analysing and developing project proposals; planning and conducting field work; selection and application of data collection methods (e.g. questionnaire design, interview techniques, bio-physical sampling methods, PRA techniques); data recording and processing; and writing field reports. This will allow students to participate effectively in interdisciplinary assignments in developing countries, and serve as a basis for understanding strengths and weaknesses of each student's own discipline, including comparative advantages of academic disciplines relevant to rural livelihoods and natural resource management in developing countries. The SLUSE programme at the former KVL, KU and RUC have carried out interdisciplinary field courses in collaboration with university counterparts in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Southern Africa since 1998. For logistic reasons, students must enrol by November 5th 2010. Check course homepage for more information: www.sluse.dk | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The course consists of: -Lectures and practicals on natural and social scientific methods and tools used in field work. Theoretical/contextual and regional specific lectures. Theoretical lectures are followed by exercises demonstrating the practical applicability of the central concepts in field work. -Guest lecture. -Student presentations of key texts. -Group work: Each student will participate in a supervised group. Each group will prepare a synopsis before the field trip, conduct fieldwork, prepare and submit a course report. -2-3 weeks field work in a developing country | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The course offers a training experience in selecting, applying and evaluating field methods for natural resource management from an interdisciplinary perspective. After completing the course the students should be able to: Knowledge: - Describe and define central concepts and terms within development and natural resource management - Show overview of field methods for data collection Skills: - Select relevant methods and design of research plan for field study - Collect and process relevant information in field - Make judgment of the usefulness of methods and the reliability of collected data as well as the significance of obtained results. Competences: - Discuss and compare data obtained by various methods in interdisciplinary field work. - Make judgment of own interpretation on complex topics and relevance for the investigated communities. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||||||||
| A compendium is provided | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Thilde Bech Bruun, thbb@life.ku.dk, Department of Agriculture and Ecology/Plant and Soil Science, Phone: 353-33412 Christian Pilegaard Hansen, cph@life.ku.dk, Forest & Landscape Denmark/Unit of Forestry, Phone: 353-31735 Torben Birch-Thomsen, tbt@geogr.ku.dk, Department of Agricultural Sciences/Plant and Soil Science, Phone: 3528 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Fee | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Participants are required to cover transportation costs and insurances to the field trip destination. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||||||||
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