Duration
20h Th, 40h Pr
Number of credits
Lecturer
Yann Berthelet, Florence Close, Annick Delfosse, Eric Geerkens, Catherine Lanneau, Suzanne Pasleau
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The Practical Introduction to Research in History course offers you the opportunity to discover, during the first year of your bachelor's degree, the practices and tools of the scientific approach of any historian (student in training or profesional).
This course is an essential prerequisite for taking Specialized Heuristics courses in the second year of the bachelor's degree.
It will address the following points , in particular :
- the principle of a heuristic approach ;
- the distinction between sources and works ;
- the critical reading of historical works ;
- written expression in a scientific context.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- understand and explain the four-step research approach presented through the course (information research, documentary research, locating and accessing documents);
- be familiar with the functioning of libraries and understand the general organization of the historical collections kept in the University of Liège's librairies ;
- choose, locate and manipulate the relevant tools (work instruments, bibliographies and works) to collect information and conduct a bibliographic research on any question of history;
- read, understand and analyze on a scientific article in history and more particularly :
- identify the author & the publication ;
- determine the research problem and questions ;
- spot the various means used by the author to establish his demonstration ;
- bring the main results out;
- present all these points in writing in a coherent and intelligible way.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
A mastery of basic French language skills is necessary (spelling, vocabulary, grammar and syntax).
To help you measure your French language mastery level, an essay ( in face to face) and a diagnostic test (online) will be organized at the beginning of the year.
Students who do not get a satisfactory grade will be personally contacted by the department's teaching assistant for the course, Ms. Cécile Gorré (cgorre@uliege.be), who will offer them compulsory refresher exercises.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course alternates theoretical sessions and practical exercises, in class or in the library.
Practical exercises are planned for these different points :
- a visit of the essential libraries for any history student ;
- the use of working instruments ( dictionaries, chronologies, atlases, major synthesis, etc.) on printed as well as digital media ;
- a general initiation to bibliographic research and to the use of bibliographic research tools ;
- the writing of bibliographic references and the introduction to the use of references managing and formatting software(Zotero) ;
- the gradual acquisition of a method of reading a scientific work ;
- the writing of summaries and analyses.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
The course will be entirely given face-to-face. The sessions will be provided by different teachers and assistants who will take turns over the course of the year. This diversity of approaches serving a common method is one of the specificities of this course.
Given the strong practical dimension as well as the progressive and cumulative difficulty of the exercises, with a view to continuous learning, class attendance is required.
Any absence from a practical work session (in the classroom or in the library) must imperatively be reported and justified to the person in charge of the course.
Recommended or required readings
Given the strong practical dimension of the course, there iare no official lecture notes.
A series of useful learning resources will be made available on the course's eCampus page throughout the year:
- various PowerPoint materials ;
- the course plan, including a timetable and the list of compulsory assignments ;
- activity sheets informing you of the different objectives, contents, materials and exercises linked with each course session ;
- the wordings of the in-class exercises ;
- additional online exercises ;
- scientific papers adressed in class ;
- the Guide to reading a scientific article in history.
Exam(s) in session
May-June exam session
- In-person
written exam
- Remote
written exam ( open-ended questions )
August-September exam session
- In-person
written exam ( open-ended questions )
- Remote
written exam ( open-ended questions )
Additional information:
The assessment takes place in face-to-face, partly on paper, partly on computer (your personal computer or one provided by the university ).
The written assessment consists of open-ended questions about knowledge, understanding and application. You will be required to show a sufficient mastery of the skills trained during the year. The French language's mastery is also assessed.
The mark of the midterm exam in January is not dispensatory. The mark will count for 10% of the June final mark if > or = 10/20). If the mark is insufficient (< 10/20), it will have no effect on the final grade. In the second session (August), the January mark will not interfere with the overall mark.
Since the course adopts a continuous learning approach, some activities and essential works are compulsory. This means that you must absolutely achieve them in order to pass the exam. A list of these compulsory activities and works is included in the online course plan.
Academic and Examination Regulations ("Landscape" Regime) - Art. 40 §2
"Teaching staff may declare students inadmissible for exams when they have not taken part in the compulsory activities related to the course. The same is true for students who have not submitted, within the set delays or in the prescribed forms, reports, personal work or any work set in the context of the activity in question".
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
The course is given in 60 hours, spread over the year in sessions of 2 or 3 hours / week (Wednesday from 1 p.m. on), according to the schedule given during the course.
Contacts
Coordinator: Suzanne Pasleau (s.pasleau@uliege.be)
Assistants : Thomas Briamont (tbriamont@uliege.be) et Sacha Habibi (sacha.habibi@uliege.be)
Association of one or more MOOCs
There is no MOOC associated with this course.