Problem definition and working with a topic

Dear students, 

you have entered the first training module of the course. The module is focused on an increase in your ability to work with a topic; concretely, you will learn to identify and define a problem. The main objective is for you to learn to reflect upon a topic, problematize it and be able to determine key concepts relating to the topic, and thus create a set of terms applicable for literature search.

At the completion of this module:

• you will understand what it means to solve a problem, and the relation of the problem to topics of seminar papers
• you will be able to select a suitable topic for the processing of a scientific text, and to distinguish between specific and general topics
• you will be able to: identify a problem and introduce a topic with a question, identify key concepts and create a set of synonyms and related concepts, expand and narrow a topic, use creative techniques for the definition of a problem

Time expenditure

The expected time expenditure of the module as far as study is concerned: 2.5 h The expected time expenditure for working out an assignment: 30 min.

 

Keywords

problem identification, problem definition, topic choice, topic expansion, topic narrowing, key concepts of a topic, synonym, creativity, creative techniques

 

Study material

In this module you will learn to define a problem, you will understand what it means to solve a problem, and the relation of the problem to topics of university papers. You will find that while working with a topic it is necessary to introduce the topic with a question, and identify key and related concepts. You will also learn to expand and narrow a topic, and use methods of critical thinking while solving a problem. You will try out a few creative techniques of problem definition.

Basic terms:

university papers - a collective term for papers which are prepared, written, presented or defended in university environment (seminar and semester papers, final and qualification papers);

problem solving - a process taking place in such cases when we need to overcome obstacles in order to find the answer to a question or reach a certain goal.

 

Please, download .pdf document and study it. 

 

Recommended bibliography

 

Homework

You will try to work with topis. Offered topics: Healthy lifestyle, Education of adults, Privacy protection or you can suggest your topic (then write your tip on e-mail dchytkova@phil.muni.cz and wait for authorization). 

Procedure:

• Introduce the topic with questions (at least 3 questions).
• Identify key concepts in one of the questions (one question is enough; identify at least 2 key concepts).
• Write down synonyms (with all key concepts from the question you chose in the previous step).
• Write down related concepts (with all key concepts from the question you chose in the previous step).
• Narrow the topic - reformulate the question you chose in the second step.
• Expand the topic - reformulate the question you chose in the second step.

Send your homework as .doc, .odt or .pdf format to dchytkova@phil.muni.cz to 5. 10. 2014.