Topic outline

  • “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember.

    Involve me and I learn”

    - Benjamin Franklin -


    Course workspace:
    https://connect.funet.fi/idbmcapstone/

    This online course advances and deepens students’ understanding on the central topics of international design business management. Students will work in multi-disciplinary teams conducting research studies on IDBM-related topics, applying theoretical literature and interviewing professionals working in the related industries. Course assignments “warm-up” students for Master’s thesis work. Virtual meeting technology and webinar (web-based seminar) format enable them to participate in the course from any location. Along with the advanced academic knowledge on international design business management, this course provides tools and methods for working effectively in global virtual teams and for facilitating engaging virtual meetings & webinars.

    LEARNING OUTCOMES

    After completing this online course, students should have:

    1. A deeper theoretical and practical understanding of IDBM core topics
    2. Ability to work effectively in distributed virtual teams
    3. Skills and experience on facilitating webinars and giving engaging online presentations
    4. Readiness to start Master’s thesis work

    COURSE SCHEDULE

    PREREQUISITE: 26E04700 - Creative Teamwork or IDBM Challenge

    To ensure your place in the course, you must be present in the first session.

    ASSIGNMENTS

    Assignments of and grading for the course consist of the following:

    1.     Active participation: 1/3 of the course grade

    3.     Literature review + expert interview: 1/3 of the course grade

    4.     Webinar hosting: 1/3 of the course grade

    Please find below more details on each of the aforementioned evaluation aspect. Note that more information will be given in the first session.

    1.     Active participation (1/3 of grade)

    Since this course builds heavily on class discussion and collaboration you are expected to study all pre-readings prior to each webinar. In IDBM, we strongly believe in community-based learning, which is why we pay attention to the positive and constructive communication style in the webinars. In other words, an important aspect of the course – and your grading – is that we help each other learn by providing knowledge and ideas openly as well as by commenting each other’s ideas in a constructive manner. Expectations for the webinar participation are the following:

    0 points = Absent

    50% of class points = Is present but demonstrates very infrequent involvement in discussions. Knows basic reading facts but does not show evidence of trying to analyze them.

    100% of class points = Contributes well to discussion and demonstrates good preparation: Has analyzed readings well, responds to other students' points, puts together pieces of discussion to develop new approaches that takes the class further.

    Compensating for missed class points:

    If you have to miss a webinar but want to earn participation points, write a Learning Diary based on the webinar recording and the corresponding pre-assignment materials.

    Use these guidelines for writing and submitting your compensation learning diary.


    2.     Literature review + expert interview (1/3 grade)

    You will write a literature review (10 - 12 pages) of an IDBM-related topic of interest to you. Literature review includes a critical analysis of the relationship among multiple different articles on the selected topic. It may be written as a stand-alone paper or to provide a theoretical framework and rationale for your Master’s thesis research study. You will also report insights from an interview with industrial professional about how the reviewed academic literature resonates with his or her business experiences.

    Use these guidelines when conducting your literature review + interview.


    3.     Hosting a Webinar (1/3 grade)

    This assignment is done with a study partner. You will plan and run a webinar (30 min) to teach your fellow IDBM students advanced knowledge about the topic of which you wrote your literature review or another selected IDBM related topic. Prepare a highly visual and engaging online presentation and bring your presentation to life by facilitating class discussion with different and creative techniques. You may also invite the experts who you interviewed to the webinar to share real-life stories with the audience. Assigning pre-assignments to facilitate your webinar participants' learning is also required.

    COURSE WORKLOAD

    Webinar hours

    25,5h

    Class preparation

    34h

    Assignments

    75,5h

    Total

    135h (5 ECTS)


    GRADING

    Overall your final grade will be accumulated as follows:

     

    0-50 points

    =0

    51-59 points

    =1

    60-69 points

    =2

    70-79 points

    =3

    80-89 points

    =4

    90-100 points

    =5


    All assignments have to be returned and the presentation has to be made in order to get a final grade for the course. Note that turning in class assignments is considered acknowledgement of guidelines on scholastic honesty and academic integrity (see the section on ethical rules below).

    ETHICAL RULES

    We expect adherence to highest standards of scholastic honesty. Examples of scholastic dishonesty are answer sharing between students, presenting text or case answers downloaded from the internet as own work without proper citation (plagiarism) or sharing answers during the final exam.

    All course assignments are to be done by the students that return the work, co-operation in preparing answers to home assignments is strictly prohibited. However, you are allowed to discuss the exercise problems with fellow students on a principal level: the definition of terms and concepts in the questions, and what issues are central to a particular question. Every student should proceed on his/her own from there. 

    Failure to adhere to these guidelines is subject to disciplinary action, such as cancellation of assignment credit, extra assignments, or removal from the course. Turning in class assignments is considered acknowledgement of these guidelines. Please read more in Intro:

    https://into.aalto.fi/display/enregulations/Aalto+University+Code+of+Academic+Integrity+and+Handling+Violations+Thereof