Course syllabus

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ACE120 ACE120 Methods and enquiry in organisations lp2 HT25 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Contact details

Examiner and main teacher

Martine Buser, (MB), Associate professor

E-mail: buser@chalmers.se

Teacher and supervisor

Elton Chan, (EC), post doc

E-mail: elton.chan@chalmers.se

Janneke van der Leer, (JVL), PhD

E-mail: janneke.vanderleer@chalmers.se

Marli Swanepoel, (MS), PhD

E-mail: marlis@chalmers.se

Sean Elliot Wisse, (SW), PhD

E-mail : wisse@student.chalmers.se

Teacher

Maitri Dore, MD, post doc

E-mail : maitri.dore@chalmers.se

ACE

Sven Hultins gata 8
SE - 412 96 Gothenburg

Course purpose

This course introduces and trains students in how to define, plan, conduct, and present empirical investigations related to emerging developments and challenges in construction management. Students will develop skills in formulating research questions, selecting and applying appropriate methods, analysing qualitative and quantitative material, and effectively presenting findings in both written and oral formats. Particular emphasis is placed on critically reflecting upon methodological choices, considering ethical implications, and assessing the trustworthiness of results.

In addition to research skills, the course highlights project management and teamwork. Students are expected to plan and organise their project work collaboratively, distribute tasks within the group, and contribute actively to joint outcomes. They will also practise giving and receiving constructive feedback, as well as reflecting on issues of equality, diversity, inclusion, and professional responsibility in the construction sector.

The course assignment centres on the theme “new technology in the construction industry.” Students will be required to define a clear research question linked to the chosen technology and carry out a small-scale project exploring its potential within the context of an organisation active in the sector.

Diary: Each group will create a dynamic project diary that documents your group’s research process from start to finish. The diary works like a mix between a construction site logbook and a research diary: it records what tasks were done, how decisions were made, and how responsibilities were shared in the team. It also includes reflections on problems, solutions, and group dynamics. The diary is not only a record of what happened but also a tool for showing how and why the project developed the way it did. It will be used to assess both the project as a whole and the contributions of individual group members.

Reading : A few chapters are mandatory to read, they will be signalised during the lectures. Besides, there is a tool box on Canvas with chapters and articles on the different topics of the lectures that you are asked to use as references.

Tasks: List the work to be done during and or after the session

Please note that this is an introductory course designed to provide all students—both Chalmers students and external participants—with a shared foundation of knowledge and skills. While some of you may already be familiar with certain topics, we encourage you to use this opportunity to further deepen your understanding and contribute to collective learning.

Schedule

ACE120 2025 preliminary
Session	Date/timeroom	Topic	People
1	Wednesday 3/9	Introduction :
	10.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- Course schedule and activities	MB
2	Wednesday 3/9	Knowledge:
	13.15 – 16.00 SB-M500	-What is knowledge in different contexts? -What we communicate, how and to whom? Tasks -Project planning -Create the diary Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major (2013) Qualitative Research. Chapter 6 the who and the what and 7: Research Question	MB
3	Friday 5/9	DCPM get together day
	09.00-17.00	Slottsskogen Lunch included Mandatory event	All
4	Monday 8/9	Creating question
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	-Technology topics Working with technology and research questions Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 8 Literature review pages and chap 9 Theoretical and Conceptual frameworks Complementary Flick chap.5 Reading and reviewing the literature	MB
5	Wednesday10/09	Literature review
	10.00-11.45 SB-M500	- Why and how we use literature - CHATBOT, rules, use and contribution - Abstracts Tasks - See slides Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 22 Field work and 23 interviews	JVL
6	Wednesday 10/9	Literature review workshop
	13.15-17.00 SB-M500	Finding literature, analysing literature and writing a literature review Tasks See PDF on Canvas Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 22 field work and 23 interviews	JVL /EC
7	Monday 15/9	Workshop observations and interviews
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500 Mandatory	Identify possible contributions of observation, purpose and goals of interviews, identifying relevant respondents and developing interview guides Tasks - Summarise your answers of today's workshop Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 4 Philosophical stance	EC/JVL
8	Wednesday 17/9	Problem formulation, concept and peer review research frame
	10.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	Problem formulation From concepts to indicators Peer review research frame Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 5 Personal stance	MB
9	Wednesday 17/9	Paradigms
	13.15 – 17.00 SB-M500	What are paradigm and what purpose do they serve? Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 5 Personal stance	MB
10	Monday 22/9	Knowledge workshop
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	Deliver your poster	MB, MS
	Between 22 and 25/9	- First supervision round	ALL supervisors
11	Wednesday 24/9	Master suppression techniques
	13.15– 16.00 SB-M500	- The 7 master suppression techniques and workshops	MB, MD
12	Monday 29/9	Negotiation and conflict resolution
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- Types of negotiations and resolving conflicts - Group work management Read for next time Flick chapt. 10 Analyzing quantitative and qualitative data	MB SW
13	Wednesday 1/10	Analysis of the empirical material
	13.15– 16.00 SB-M500	- How to analyse your interviews - How to structure a discussion Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 10 Case study and 11 Pragmatic qualitative research	EC
14	*Monday 6/10*	Method chapter
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500 Mandatory	- Method chapter - Visualisation Tasks - Deliver a method chapter for your project Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 10 Documents	MB MS
15	Wednesday 8/10	Methods peer review
	10.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- Methods per review in groups - Lecture presentation skills	MB, JVL
	Wednesday 8/10	Second round of supervision
	13.15-17.00 SB M500	- Content: feedback diary, method and abstract To be organized with your supervisor	ALL supervisors
16	Monday 13/10	Privilege walk
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- Identity and privilege Read for next time Savin-Baden & Howell Major Chap 21 Ethics and ethical approval	MB, SW MD
17	Wednesday 15/10	Ethic session
	13.15 – 16.00 SB-M500	- What is ethic? - Ethic in research - Ethics and engineering	MB
18	Thursday 23/10	*Presentation of groupwork 1st round**
	09.00 – 17.00 SB-M022	Mandatory	EC, MB, MS, SW
18 bis	Friday 24/10	*Presentation of groupwork 2nd round**
	09.00 – 17.00 SB-M022	Mandatory	EC, MB, MS, SW

TimeEdit

Course literature

Main reference

Savin-Baden & Howell Major (2013) Qualitative Research: the essential guide to theory and Practice, Oxon, Routledge link

Complementary

Bell E., Bryman A. and Harley B. (2015) Business research methods. OUP, Oxford.

Flick U. (2020) Introducing research methodology, Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Luker K. (2008) Salsa dancing into the social science. Harvard Institute press

Other material such as scientific papers, book chapters and videos are provided on Canvas.

Course design

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to design, carry out, and critically evaluate research in the context of science, engineering, and organisations. Students learn to identify and assess the need for scientific information, search for relevant sources, and critically evaluate their relevance. They will practise formulating and delimiting research questions, choosing appropriate methods, and reflecting on issues of trustworthiness, ethics, and quality in research.

The course also emphasises project work and collaboration. Students will plan, organise, and manage group projects, distribute tasks, and collaborate in a professional manner. They will train their ability to present research results clearly to different audiences, give constructive feedback to peers, and engage in critical discussions.

Finally, the course highlights ethical and societal dimensions of engineering and research. Students reflect on sustainable concerns, professional codes of conduct, and the role of equality, diversity, and inclusion in shaping their future professional practice, including how to challenge existing practices in the construction industry.

Defining and conducting systematic production of knowledge
Introduction to theory of science
Engineering ethics
Reflective practice
Communication and team work skills

The course includes lectures, exercises, seminars aiming at giving the students general knowledge and training practices to conduct research.

Project groups are formed at the beginning of the course, and group supervision is provided. The compulsory activities are listed in the course schedule.

The groups will be asked to deliver a diary of the project processes with a weekly update of their progression.

The students are required to attend 80% of the sessions; attendance will be checked in the class. Missing mandatory events will be compensated by supplementary assignments.

Learning objectives

Learning objectives:

Reflect upon the notion of knowledge in the context of science, engineering and organisations
Asses the need for scientific information, search for that information and critically evaluate its relevance
Analyse specific context to define and delimit a research question
Select appropriate research methods for fulfilling the research project objectives
Critically evaluate used methods with consideration to both scientific trustworthiness and ethical aspects
Interpret and assess the quality of the results from a research project
Formulate and organise a discussion
Evaluate whether research has been carried out in a trustworthy and defensible manner

Besides, the students should

Organise, plan and manage the project work load according to the tasks and the members of the group
Collaborate professionally according to the project group's needs of structured management and task distribution
Perform a clear oral presentation of the project result that is well-suited to its intended audience
Assess and give constructive feedback to other projects group's work
Reflect on and reason about ethical aspects of engineering work, academic research and corporate codes of conduct according to sustainable concerns
Show ability to discuss and reflect on equality, diversity and inclusion and in connection to their future professional role be able to challenge existing practices in the construction industry.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study planLinks to an external site.

Examination form

You are expected to have read the assigned literature before the beginning of each lecture. This will provide you with the necessary terminology and preconceptions to enable further collective exploration in class.

Participation in mandatory course activities (or a relevant compensation assignment in agreement with the examiner) is a prerequisite for passing the course.

Each group has to attend all the sessions of the course

Exercises done in class will be part of the dairy

Active project group work, including the completed project diary, as well as the presentation material, and oral presentation of the technology, constitutes the group components of the final grade of 90%.

The project topic is to assess the potential of a given technology for the construction sector. The students will be distributed in groups of 4 members, randomly chosen and have 7 weeks or 600 hours to produce a credible result.

To do so, the students are expected to

Plan and organize the project
Manage the workload, the tasks and the team
Carry interviews with companies in weeks 38-40
Presentation of the results to the class on the 23-24 October (one out of two dates only for each group)
Attend the course and participate in the workshops
Document the group’s work in a diary

An individual assessment of the project process constitutes the final 10%.

The grading builds on:

Project diary (including the group’s workshop assignments): 60% of the final grade
Presentation (slides and oral presentation): 30%
Individual assessment: 10%
The course is graded 5, 4, 3 or fail.

Absence from one or several of the compulsory seminars or presentation sessions can be substituted with alternative assignments. The decision to approve that such a compensatory procedure may be used is made by the responsible teacher on an individual basis. Some course content will only be given at the time presented in the schedule.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

Grades

Individual grades will be used according to the scale; U (Fail), 3 (Pass), 4, and 5.

The following grade criteria are used to determine how well the student demonstrates these abilities and meets the course learning objectives. A higher grade level assumes abilities at lower levels.

5 (Excellent) The student demonstrates the ability to critically reflect from a holistic perspective on the various theoretical perspectives included in the course, as well as transfer and apply insights in new meaningful contexts.

4 (Very Good) The student demonstrates the ability to understand and use concepts to explain how the various dimensions of the course relate to each other, are interconnected, and become meaningful from a higher and coherent subject perspective.

3 (Pass) The student demonstrates the ability to address the content, tasks, and problem complexes of the course from several different, well-developed but mainly independent perspectives.

U (Fail) The student's knowledge, abilities, and skills in the course area show deficiencies in whole or in substantial part.

Instructions on using generative AI tools (like ChatGPT)

ACE120 follows the general stance of Chalmers’ Executive committee for education, which is that bachelor's and master's education should reflect a real working situation within the professional field as much as possible, including access to AI tools. However, it is not always appropriate to use them, and when they are used, it is a prerequisite that AI tools are employed in a responsible and transparent manner. In this page, you can find instructions and implications on using AI for your course work: https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/masters-and-bachelors-thesis/regulations-for-the-use-of-ai-tools/Links to an external site.Links to an external site.. The page refers to working on theses, but the same principles apply to your regular coursework and assignments.

Changes made since the last occasion

Based on last year’s students' evaluation, the course has been revised and improved in the following ways:

The content of sessions 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11 has been revised.
New references have been added.
The technology assignment has been redesigned, and the list of technologies has been updated.
The role and requirements of the project diary have been reformulated.
New supervisors have joined the teaching team.
The use of AI has been introduced in selected sessions.