Elective course

Course goals

Year 2 of the DaSCA-program includes electives with 7,5 ECTS (credit points), equivalent for the workload of one regular Research Master (RM) course. The electives will be designed individually and according to the specific interests and / or needs of each individual student.

The aim of the electives is to provide useful additional expertise and work experience for 2nd year DaSCA-students. The electives should contribute to broadening students’ expertise in selected fields of Development and Socialization research. Specifically, the electives should contribute to the master’s thesis project or prepare students for a future role as academic professional/researcher in applied settings, such as institutes for youth care (jeugdzorg) or research institutes outside the University.

Typically, students will use the electives to build up field-specific knowledge and theoretical expertise, thus complementing what students have learned in other DaSCA-courses. The electives will be designed individually for each student.

Content

The elective course offers students three general options to choose from:
1. Preferably, the elective will consist of a course from one of the other research masters of the graduate school of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Utrecht University, or a research master from other Dutch Universities.
2. Secondly, students can choose a course from an academic master within Utrecht University. This possibility is especially interesting for those aiming at doing two masters, but it is also open to other students interested in a specific topic within social sciences. From 2015 on, academic master courses have 5 ECTS. To meet the required number of credits, the elective course will therefore be extended by an additional assignment with a size of 2,5 ECTS. This assignment will contain of an individual literature paper (max 3000 words including  at least 15 references) within the frameworks of the specific course. Students hand in a proposal for this literature paper beforehand (max 500 words), to be approved by the coordinator of the elective. Brief feedback on this proposal will be provided within 2 weeks. Feedback will also be given on a first draft of the literature paper, and the final literature paper will be graded by the coordinator of the elective course.
3. Alternatively, it is possible to do an additional internship or traineeship of 7,5 ECTS within or outside university. Students will have to hand in a detailed traineeship plan (max 500 words) including activities, learning goals, and way and amount of supervision, to be approved by the coordinator of the elective. Next to the traineeship activities, students will also have to hand in a traineeship report (max 1500 words) at the end. In this report, students describe their activities, explain how they achieved the learning goals, and reflect critically on their functioning within the traineeship. This report will be graded by the traineeship supervisor.

Details on the specific nature of the electives will be decided in close consultation with the coordinator.
 

Grading and examination

Grading and examination vary per elected course. Minimum grade = 5.5.
Students choosing option 1 will be graded by the coordinator of the specific course. Students opting for option 2 will receive two grades: one for the academic master course, graded by the coordinator of that course (5 EC), and one for the literature paper, graded by the coordinator of the elective (2.5 EC). Students choosing option 3 will receive a grade that is based on the evaluation by the supervisor of their traineeship (90%) and the evaluation of their traineeship plan and report by the coordinator of the elective course (10%).

Register for an Elective course
Please remember to inform the coordinator of DaSCA10 about completion of the elective course before April 2024.
What you need to do to get the content of your Elective course registered correctly:

1. Discuss your options with the coordinator of the Elective course. H/she needs to approve the content of the course, and can give you advice in this matter.
2. Inform yourself on how to register for courses you intend to follow, and make sure you are registered on time. Deadlines and procedures may differ per institute/organisation, so start orientating early on.
3. Make sure to collect all necessary certificates and provide them to the Elective coordinator. H/she can make sure everything is registered correctly.

Do make sure to have all the necessary information and certificates at the Elective course coordinator before April 2024. Otherwise problems may occur with graduating.
The Graduate School aims to make it possible for research masters’ students to participate in one of the courses of the other research master's programmes. If you want to participate in one of these courses you need to do the following:

1. Contact the teacher of the course you are interested in to see whether they approve of your participation. Arrange a confirmation in writing.
2. Email this confirmation tot the Student desk by filling out the registration form.

Deadlines registration research master courses
If you want to participate in a course in the first semester of 2023-2024, contact the Studentdesk at the latest August 1, 2023.
If you want to participate in a course in the second semester of 2023-2024, contact the Studentdesk at te latest January 1, 2024.