| CODE | CGS5031 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Current Trends in Cognitive Science | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Cognitive Science | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will revolve around weekly seminars from active researchers in the field of Cognitive Science. The primary aim is to expose students both to the content and the format of professional research presentations. As the goal of the study-unit is to expose our students to topics that are currently being actively researched 鈥� either by staff members, collaborators or visiting academics 鈥� the content is expected to change from year to year. However, it is likely that these will reflect ongoing research activity within our department, including human memory, decision making, psycholinguistics, social cognition, perception, attention and cognitive neuroscience. As well as in-person seminars, we will also have linked discussion sessions and/or Q&A sessions to follow-up where necessary. These may be conducted in person or possibly online. Study-Unit Aims: The study-unit aims to enable students to engage with and understand research presentations delivered within the context of Cognitive Science seminars. Students will be expected to conducted independent study on EACH topic and the speaker PRIOR to the sessions, and to contribute to the seminar by asking pertinent questions. Depending on class numbers, specific students may be assigned to specific talk sessions. In addition to general participation, students will be expected to select TWO specific talks from the seminar series to form the basis of their assignments. The topics of these talks will need to be researched in more depth. One talk will form the basis of POSTER that the students will produce and present at a session held at the end of the course. The poster should summarize the research findings from a talk/research group in the format used at conferences related to Cognitive Science. A second, different talk will form the basis of a written REPORT of the main research area and research findings that were presented during the seminar. The goal here is to give the student practice in following and summarizing research findings presented in an oral seminar setting. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Follow and understand research findings presented in an oral session; - Identify areas where their own understanding of a topic or series of findings is weak and learn how to formulate appropriate questions; - Demonstrate subject knowledge and critical thinking by participating in discussions following a research talk; - Describe in detail one topic area and generate 鈥� by adapting journal articles and/or provided talk slides 鈥� a conference style poster; - Effectively present a conference poster; - Summarize the contents of an oral presentation so that others can follow the main questions and findings by producing a written summary. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Critically evaluate ideas presented during an oral presentation; - Take effective notes during a talk to allow for further exploration of ideas; - Formulate pertinent questions to address knowledge gaps; - Formulate pertinent questions to further a discussion; - Produce a conference style poster to summarise a series of findings; - Produce a written report to summarise the content of a talk and identify issues with format or content. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Readings will be based on the research work of guest speakers. - This will change from year to year. - Students are expected to conduct independent study prior to each session and access and read relevant research papers. - For both the POSTER and the REPORT assignment, more in depth reading of relevant journal papers will be expected. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Seminar | ||||||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Gordon Sammut Ian M Thornton |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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