Course syllabus

CoursePM

ACE370 - Master's thesis preparation: Academic approaches and general structure, 2024

Course is offered by the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, autumn semester 2024,  lp1 HT24 (5 hp)

In order to attend the course you need to choose a profile before the course starts. Contact Maja Kovacs to be added to a profile or if you have general questions about the course. Under the module “Course information” you can find a list of student’s choices for profile. All the tutorials are conducted in the chosen profile, and all the hand-ins are within the chosen profile.  

The course ACE370 is connected to the course ACE425 - Master's thesis preparation: Design approaches and narratives,, see below. If you are only taking one of the courses you only have to attend the introduction for your specific course. Within the course ACE370 you develop your project plan and within ACE425 you develop design investigations in connections to your idea for the masters thesis. 

ACE370: 2nd Sep, 09.00-10.45 Introduction, room FB

ACE425: 2nd Sep, 13.15-17:00 Introduction within profile, see rooms below

• SB3-L112 Urban and rural design and planning and Urban design
• SB1-582 Society, justice, space
• SB-L227 Building Design and Transformation for Sustainability
• SB1-584 Healthcare and Housing Architecture
• SB3-L110 Architectural Experimentation ​
• SB-L408 Building Design and Transformation​

The course will be conducted at school, but some of the lectures are online.. See PDF schedule or the Canvas schedule. 

Contact information  

Examiner and contact person: Julia Fredriksson, julia.fredriksson@chalmers.se 

Course leader: Maja Kovács, maja.kovacs@chalmers.se  

 

Modules and contact person within the profile

MPARC 

Healthcare and Housing Architecture: Anna Braide, anna.braide@chalmers.se  

Architectural Experimentation: Daniel Norell, norelld@chalmers.se  

Building Design and Transformation: Mikael Ekegren, mikael.ekegren@chalmers.se  

Urban Design: Joaquim Tarraso, joaquim.tarraso@chalmers.se  

 

MPDSD 

Building Design and Transformation for Sustainability: Walter Unterrainer, walteru@chalmers.se  

Society, Justice, Space: Marco Adelfio, adelfio@chalmers.se  

Urban and Rural Design and Planning: Nils Björling, nils.bjorling@chalmers.se 

 

Course Schedule  

The canvas calendar and the pdf schedule are the schedules being used in the course and are always updated. Time edit is not updated. 

 

Purpose and aim  

The course prepares students for the master thesis in architecture. It gives an orientation on theories and methods with a focus on academic approaches and writing. Within the course, students formulate a project plan in accordance with academic requirements. The course is connected to the course ACE425 Master’s thesis preparation: design approaches and narratives. The main deliverance of the course is a project plan connected to your idea for a master's thesis.  

 

Learning outcomes  

• Knowledge and understanding 
  refer the own work to theories and methods within architectural and/or urban design, relate it to a professional context and to a sustainability perspective 
• Competence and skills 
  reflect upon the relationship between research and design in the students coming master thesis, prepare and plan the master’s thesis general structure and formulate it into a project plan in accordance with academic requirements 
• Judgement and approach 
  reflect on and assess the learning process the student has been through and identify the need for further knowledge and skills, constructively evaluate the students own work as well as other students work and give constructive feedback 

 

Course Design  

The course includes lectures, workshops, seminars, assignments and presentations. The students formulate a project plan in accordance with the academic requirements for the master thesis. During the course the students will give feedback to other students and receive feedback on their own work from other students.  

Students are divided into groups based on assigned master's thesis examiner(s) and supervisor(s), but are also mixed between these groups, providing a cross-critical approach. The learning is structured around lectures, workshops, groupwork, group feedback, individual work, feedback with teachers and assignments. Students work individually or in pairs, depending on how they are planning on pursuing their thesis. 

 

Lectures  

 

• 2nd of September, 09.00-10.45, Introduction, Maja Kovács and Naima Callenberg 

• 2nd of September, 13.15-17.00, Introduction ACE425, within profile 

• 4th of September, 09.00-11.45, Student presentations 

• 4th of September, 13.15-17.00, What is a MT, Research and design, Maja Kovács 

• 9th of September, 10.00-11.45, Working with (written) references, Beate Granström and Emilié Sörberg 

• 9th of September, 13.15-16.00, Theory and references, Naima Callenberg  

• 10th of September, 13.15-16.00, Process and Method, Naima Callenberg 

• 11th of September, 13.15-16.00, Methods, Elke Miedema 

• 30th-31st of October. 08.00-17.00, Final presentation, with profile  

 

Individual assignments  

You will have individual assignments, where you deliver throughout the course, enabling the teacher to follow your progression. More information will be given in the assignment on Canvas. 

• Individual assignment 1: Positioning, 6 sep, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 2: Knowledge development, 13 sep, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 3: Draft project plan, 7 oct, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 4: Final draft, 21 oct 18.00   

• Individual assignment 5: Final project plan, 1 nov, 18.00   

    

Tutorials and group work  

You will meet your group to receive feedback on your material throughout the course, as well as the tutorial team from your chosen profile. The schedule for each profile tutorial will be under the profile specific module.  

• 6th of September, 09.00-12.00, Group work  

• 13th of September, 09.00-12.00, Group work

• 16th of September, 09.00-17.00, Tutorial with profile  

• 23rd of September, 09.00-12.00, Group work  

• 7th of October, 09.00-12.00, Group work 

• 14th of October, 09.00-17.00, Tutorial with profile 

 

Group assignments  

You will deliver assignments as a group, discussing articles and documenting your feedback on each other’s work. More information will be given in the assignment on Canvas.  

• Group Assignment A, 6 sep, 18.00  

• Group Assignment B, 13 sep, 18.00  

• Group Assignment C, 23 sep, 18.00  

• Group Assignment D, 7 oct, 18.00  

 
Content for final project plan  

The end deliverance of the course is a complete project plan with the following content:  

1. Title: Formulate a preliminary title for your master's thesis. 

2. Abstract: Formulate a concise summary encompassing background, aim, theory, method, and expected results. 

3. Background and Problem Description: Contextualize the master thesis project within a broader societal context, describe its contribution to the profession from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and outline the knowledge gap you aim to address. 

4. Aim and Research Questions: Formulate the overall aim of the master thesis along with specific research questions, based on the background and problem description. 

5. Relevance for Sustainable Development: Specify how the master thesis integrates a sustainability perspective. 

6. Delimitations: Describe the limitations of the master thesis project, clarifying its scope and what topics it does not cover. 

7. Theory: Describe the main theories upon which your master's thesis will be based and specify the primary academic and practice-based references you intend to use. 

8. Project: Describe the project in which you will apply you Master’s thesis, as well as the context for your project, and describe your motivation for choosing this project and this context.  

9. Methods and Tools: Describe the methods you will use to investigate your aim and research questions in the master thesis and explain the rationale behind choosing these methods. 

10. Process and Structure: Outline how you plan to conduct your master thesis process, including a time-plan. 

11. Expected Results: Describe the type of results and outcome you aim to deliver in your master thesis, describing both your academic deliveries and your design deliveries.  

12. References: Compile a reference list of scientific and project-based references using the APA system, following to scientific citation standards. 

 

Evaluation criteria and supplements  

Grading: Approved / not approve 

Criteria: 

• Presence at the scheduled activities, 80% minimum and active participation at the seminars and group work 

• Submission of ALL assignments and on time 
• Quality of submissions: all the assignments should follow the instructions and have the correct content 
• Participation in the tutorials  

 

Attendance:  

Attendance will be taken through assignments. If more than one lecture is missed, an interview with a student who was present at the time should be summarized and submitted via Canvas, under Supplements. If a group opportunity is missed, a separate individual compilation of the assignment should be made and submitted via Canvas, under Supplements. A missed opportunity is each lecture or group work, it is not divided per day. 

 

Assignments and quality: 

The assignments in the course are based on progression and should therefore be delivered on time during the course. 

 

Integrated learning 

The course runs in parallel with the course Master’s thesis preparation: Design approaches and narratives. If the courses are taken together the material from each course will be connected. 

The deliverance of this course is also connected to the registration process for the Master’s thesis ACEX35. The result from the course will be part of a registration process. More information will be given later.  

 

Course literature 

Architectural Research Methods, second edition (2013):  by Linda Groat and David Wang. (This book can be found as an e-book at the Chalmers Library website). Read chapters 1 and 2 and choose 1-2 chapters from the book that is relevant to the group.  

Diagramming Design Research (2007); David Wang, in JOURNAL OF INTERIODRESIGN, Volume 33 Number 1 2007.  (This article can be found at Canvas and as an e-book on the Chalmers Library website)   

This is Research by Design; Johan Verbeke in the book “Design Research in Architecture” edited by Murray Fraser. (This article can be found on Canvas)  

Reflecting on RTD 2015: Making Connections to Doing Research Through Design, by Rebecca Taylor, in Design Issues: Volume 33, Number 3 Summer 2017.   (This article can be found at the Chalmers Library website) 

Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions, by Bruce Hanington, and Bella Martin (This book can be found at Canvas and as an e-book on the Chalmers Library website)   

Basics Design Methods (2017); by Jormakka, Kari Basics Design Methods (This book can be found at the Chalmers Library website) 

Chapter 1, The Selection of a Research Approach, by John W Creswell in the book “Research design” (This article can be found on Canvas)