The Academic Professional linking module aims to integrate the various course components in the Master's curriculum with the underlying vision of teaching students to become academic professionals – critical thinkers who can move smoothly between theory and practice and consciously apply the latest knowledge and basic skills to identify and resolve problems in social contexts. Each period contains a number of activities that can be either integrated within or linked to other courses of the Master’s programme. The objectives of the course are:
Integration
- to integrate scientific knowledge, practical problems and practical research questions
- students become aware of the contexts and coherence of educational problems.
Job market orientation and preparation
- students develop an impression of and proactive attitude towards the opportunities the job market offers for them as educational professionals.
Professional identity:
- students characterise their own professional identity in terms of qualities and skills, core activities and delivered value.
- students gain insight into and reflect on the development of their professional identity and take action on this by developing their own competencies as needs require (lifelong learning).
Ethics:
- students reflect on their own discipline in ethical terms.
Academic integrity:
- to elucidate the rules and procedures that apply within the scientific discipline and which are actively pursued by the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) in order to help students reflect on their own and others' scientific research and possible ethical dilemmas.
Professional integrity:
- students recognise and name ethical dilemmas in professional practice and make a reasoned decision on an ethical dilemma in professional practice.
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In the Academic Professional linking module, three main themes are discussed. Firstly, Job market orientation, which focuses on helping students discover and characterise their professional identity (as part of job market orientation) and prepares them to make an effective start to their careers. And secondly, Ethics, which includes both academic integrity and professional integrity. Finally Integration: various reflection assignments are designed to help students see coherence in their Master’s programme and to integrate theory in their practice.
During the course, students work on these themes on the basis of various programme components that are offered or carried out throughout the Master's year, spread over the various periods. Some parts of this are offered as part of the linking module itself, others are integrated in the current curriculum or offered by the faculty.
During the linking module, the student develops an Academic Professional Dossier (AP Dossier) in which the components' assignments are processed. Assessment of this takes place through a combination of components that are signed off and components that are graded.
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