Master Thesis Movement and Sport Sciences part I

10 ECTS credits
267 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4018675ENR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester

1st and 2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

For this course you have to meet certain enrolment requirements. For an overview of the enrolment requirements check https://www.vub.be/en/studying-vub/practical-info-for-students/study-guidance/study-path/individual-study-path#paragraph--id--71647

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy

Department

LK Academische eenheid

Educational team

Tom Deliens (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

9 contact hours Lecture
240 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course is composed according to the principles of blended learning and consists of lectures (including flipped classrooms, knowledge clips, ...), interactive lessons (response, Q&A,/WPO, ...) and independent work.
Themes discussed within this course include:
- What is a systematic literature review?
- Systematically formulating a question.
- Formulating a search query (search key) in function of the used databases.
- Selecting articles (after a targeted and efficient literature search).
- Assessing the quality (Risk Of Bias) of articles.
- Principles of data extraction.
- What is a meta-analysis?
- Interpreting results.
- Preparing a research protocol.
- Estimating sample size.
- Introducing the Medical Ethics Committee and good clinical practice.
- Academic writing style and presentation.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Handouts van de ppt-presentaties, werkopdrachten en aanvullende informatie, Canvas
Handbook (Recommended) : Evidence-Based Rehabilitation, A guide to practice, Law M & McDermid J eds, 3e, SCLACK Inc. USA, 9781617110214, 2013
Handbook (Recommended) : Lezen en beoordelen van onderzoekspublicaties, Een handleiding voor studenten hbo en wo-gezondheiszorg, geneeskunde en gezondheidswetenschappen, W.S. Jansen G.J: Jansen, 8de druk, ThiemeMeulenhoff bv, 9789006643428, 2016
Handbook (Recommended) : Inleiding in evidence-based medicine, Klinisch handelen gebaseerd op bewijsmateriaal, Offringa M, Assendelft W, Scholten R eds., 5de herziene druk,, Bohn Stafleu van Loghum, Houten (NL), 9789036819770, 2018

Additional info

Since the various assignment phases deal with the preparatory work of a part of the Master’s thesis, the student will regularly discuss these assignments with the supervisor.

Learning Outcomes

Learning Result

The learning objectives of this course are:
- The student acquires knowledge, insight and skills regarding the design of scientific research based on a research question.
- The student is able to conduct a systematic literature review based on a research question.
- The student is able to draw up a research protocol for the Master’s thesis based on the research question and the systematic literature study carried out.
- The student is able to report findings from their own systematic literature review and research protocol based on it in a written AND oral scientific way.
- Master thesis part 1 leads to a systematic review concerning a (sub)question related to the research domain of exercise science.
- Master thesis part 1 leads to a research protocol, which forms the basis for Master's thesis part 2 (literature review + experimental part).
This course contributes to the following learning outcomes:
- The student performs a systematic analysis of scientific sources (library, databases, ICT) (4).
- The student performs a systematic literature review (4).
- The student formulates research questions (4).
- The student conducts scientific research (4).
- The student interprets scientific data (4).
- The student disseminates the conducted research (4).
- The student reflects on his scientific actions (4).

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

systematische review with a relative weight of 60 which comprises 66.7% of the final mark.

Note: 40% of this partial grade is decided by the supervisor (this is 24% of the total grade) and 60% of this partial grade is decided by the titularis (this is 36% of the total grade).
protocol with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 33.3% of the final mark.

Note: 40% of this partial grade is decided by the supervisor (this is 12% of the total grade) and 60% of this partial grade is decided by the titularis (this is 18% of the total grade).

Additional info regarding evaluation

This is a year-long course with one evaluation moment in June. The assessment is done by the instructor and supervisor.
Explanation point distribution:
The systematic review determines 60% (*1) of the final grade, the protocol determines 30% of the final grade (*2) and the presentation and defense determine 10% of the final grade (*3).
*1) Systematic review (60% final grade):
- 40% supervisor assessment
- 60% instructor assessment
*2) Protocol (30% final grade):
- 40% supervisor assessment
- 60% instructor assessment
*3) Presentation and defense (10% final grade)
- 100% instructor assessment

1st session:
Submission deadline: two weeks before the exam: submit the systematic review as well as the research protocol, together with the supervisor's assessment on both parts (for more info, see Canvas). The format for the systematic review and the research protocol are available on Canvas. During the first session, the student presents (power point presentation of up to 10 minutes) the systematic review and the research protocol. The presentation is assessed by the instructor. The instructor also reviews the systematic review and research protocol.

2nd session:
Submission deadline: two weeks before the exam: submit all manuscripts as described for the 1st session along with the supervisor's assessments. The student will present both parts in the form of a power point presentation (maximum 10 minutes). The presentation will be assessed by the instructor. The instructor will also assess the systematic review and the research protocol. If in the second term the student presents a reworked version of a manuscript submitted in the first term, it must be accompanied by a clear statement indicating and justifying point-by-point the changes made.

Important information regarding both sessions:
To pass this course, the student must obtain a pass on both the systematic review (total score instructor + supervisor = at least 10/20) and the research protocol (total score instructor + supervisor = at least 10/20) separately. In case of a failing grade on either part, the lowest partial grade will be used as the final grade.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context