Competency Goals

The students gain experience with literature research on a current research topic. They explore, understand and compare different approaches to a selected scientific problem. The students are able to write a summary of their literature research in the form of a scientific publication in English and give a scientific talk on it.

Content

The students choose a topic from the field of robotics (e.g. remote control, behavior-based robotics, human-robot interaction, the “uncanny valley,” natural language understanding, machine learning) and conduct a research on it that, building on literature findings, also includes and addresses the perspectives of society and the general media (as given by science fiction books, movies and games, as well as media and news outlets) and technology assessment (including social/societal expectations and needs, ethical implications, and risks/benefits analyses).

Students work under the guidance of a scientific supervisor. At the end of the semester, they present the results and write an elaboration in English in the form of a scientific publication.

Workload

Seminar with 2 SWS, 3 LP.

3 LP corresponds to approx. 90 hours, of which

approx. 45 hours of literature research

approx. 25 hrs. elaboration

approx. 10 hrs. preparation of presentation

approx. 10 hrs. compulsory attendance

Competency certificate

The assessment is carried out as an examination of another type (§ 4 Abs. 2 No. 3 SPO). The overall impression is evaluated. The following partial aspects are included in the grading: Term paper (approx. 6 pages in double-column format), Presentation (duration approx. 10+10 min.).