Duration
320h Pers. Res.
Number of credits
| Veterinary surgeon | 15 crédits |
Lecturer
Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux, Calixte Bayrou, Carole Charlier, Geoffroy de la Rebière de Pouyade, Christophe Desmet, Tom Druet, Keith Durkin, Kris Gommeren, Bénédicte Machiels, Céline Maquet, Anne-Christine Merveille, Stéphanie Noël, Elodie Roels, Claude Saegerman, Alexandra Salciccia, Sandrina Vandenput, Dominique Votion
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
If a student fails an examination during the first term:
- They are permitted to resit the assessed subject during the second term (May-June);
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Paragraph 126 of the "décret paysage" of the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles states: "All University study programmes leading to a graduate degree must comprise a Final Degree Work accounting for 15 to 30 credits. This work (i.e., Master Thesis - MT) concerns any teaching activity, including training, practical and other professional-learning activities, to emphasize the following qualities of the students: autonomy, criticism, personal qualities and professional competences. The MT comprises at least a written manuscript which, with ageements of the jury members and academic authorities, can be written in a foreign language".
All information regarding the organization and the realisation of the MT the presentation and the explanation of the evaluation criteria, the recommandations to the authors,
different email contact addresses and the deadlines to send the documents are present on the website of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (URL: FMV - TFE (uliege.be)).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The general objectives of the MT are part of a double context
The preliminary works of the Faculty Commission allowed to identify 6 competencies the students should acquire during their studies. The FDW can contribute to two of them, the first being to develop the expertise allowing an efficient professional practice and adaptation to its constant evolution, the second the ability to establish professional relationships with the various contacts.
The first one aims at training the students to a continuous professional development process and to incite them to scientificaly contribute to the advancement of the veterinary science and practice, and to make them aware of research methodologies and evidence-based medicine, keeping a critical mind.
The second one aims at appropriately communicating by writing in a complete, clear, exact and synthetic manner, but also orally with customers, colleagues, authorities and other collaborators.
As more specific objectives, the MT should contribute to teach the future practioner to :
- define a subject or a question related to the veterinary practice or research which should be relevant, original, interesting and prone to be developped ;
- critically and scientifically analyse, develop and solve the abovementioned question ;
- Write synthetically and in a structured way the collected informations ;
- work autonomously, interact in an adapted manner with the promoter, and request for help if necessary
- orally present and argue on the work
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The co- and prerequisite teaching units are detailed in the courses program
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The activities involved in completing the MT vary depending on the topic chosen and the supervision arrangements proposed. They are primarily based on the student's independent work, supported by the MT supervisor.
These include, in particular: (i) supervision meetings aimed at defining and clarifying the research topic or question, reviewing the progress of the work and, where necessary, making the required corrections, adjustments or further exploration; (ii) independent work involving documentary research, information gathering, bibliographic research and critical analysis of the literature relating to the topic under study; (iii) depending on the nature of the FDW, experimental research, analysis of clinical cases or any other relevant activity relating to the topic under study; (iv) the critical analysis, synthesis and scientific presentation of the results; and (v) the presentation and oral defence of the work before an examination board.
In the second year of the Master's programme, an afternoon session on research methodology is also offered as part of the programme. This session provides an opportunity to present and discuss the main tools available to students for completing their final-year project, particularly with regard to scientific information retrieval, writing and the management of bibliographical references.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
Students choose their fields of study during the first months of the M2. They are encouraged then to set the key milestones of the work as soon as possible, so as to make the best possible use of the two academic years available to them to complete it.
The mode of delivery is a combination of face-to-face and individual or distance learning, according to the learning activities as mentioned at the above paragraph.
The guidelines for performing the FDW, as well as the learning objectives are described in the MT guide hosted on the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine intranet site (URL: FMV - TFE (uliege.be)).
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
- MyULiège
Further information:
The MT guide, along with various resources to help with its completion, are available on eCampus, in the VTFE0005 course.
In particular, several tutorials are provided to support students through the various stages of their work. Among other things, they enable students to review best practice for effectively searching bibliographic databases, to familiarise themselves with the document access services offered by the ULiège Library, and to optimise the management of bibliographic references using the Zotero software.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam AND oral exam
- Remote
written exam AND oral exam
Written work / report
Continuous assessment
Further information:
Assessment must be continuous and coherent, i.e. in line with the general and specific objectives of the FDW. It must be both formative and certificative. An assessment grid is provided in the appendix to the MT guide. It helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the work and its objectives. By formative assessment, we mean the recommendations made in writing or orally by the tutor to improve the student's work and thus make them more competent.
Certifying assessment means assessment which results in a final mark out of 20. This should conform to a grading scale suggested in the MT guide.
This mark, awarded by the jury, takes into account:
- the year's work (regularity of exchanges, autonomy, spirit of initiative, continuous progression of work, etc.)
- the finished work (manuscript)
- the oral presentation, including (i) the presentation of the work (quality of the slides, clarity of the presentation, adherence to the time limit) and (ii) the answers to the jury's questions (responsiveness, accuracy, thoughtfulness, honesty).
An assessment rubric, setting out the specific learning objectives, has been developed for tutors, markers, and examiners to ensure objectivity in grading and to enable feedback to be provided to students upon request. It is included in the appendix to the MT Guide.
Work placement(s)
There is no requirement for a work placement, but the final study stage work placement could be the basis of the FDW, eventually under the form of a portfolio.
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
All organisational informations are indicated in the « guide du TFE » and « Calendrier du TFE » available on the Faculty Web site (URL: FMV - TFE (uliege.be) ).
Contacts
- Coordinator: Prof. Jean-Luc Hornick. Tel: 04/366 41 31. email: jlhornick@uliege.be
- Bibliographic research and interpretation: Dr Sandrina Vandenput. Tel: 04/366 4194. email: S.Vandenput@uliege.be
- Administration contact: Mrs Murielle Hermans. Tel: 04/366 41 14. email: Murielle.Hermans@uliege.be