Study Guide

Objective

The objective of the Bachelor’s Thesis is for the student to demonstrate and develop the ability of applying professional skills and knowledge to a practical development assignment or project relevant to the profession and the working life.

In Metropolia’s Bachelor’s Thesis the student learns and carries out development work, which is based on researched knowledge and other evidence and which concerns the development of professional competences or practices.

On completion of the Bachelor’s Thesis the student will be able to
• identify questions and needs for development in the professional field and the working life and to plan for their solutions
• use reliable and confined information from various sources in the development work
• apply professional skills and knowledge and use appropriate methods for the development task
• execute a development project useful for the working life or the profession in an independent, responsible and collaborative manner
• communicate in different stages of the work both to peers and to other audiences in a clear, well argumented and illustrative manner
• report the results of the work, to assess them and to bring forth proposals for improvement in an appropriate way both in writing and in speech as well as visually

Content

- Applying theory into practice
- Argumentation and justification of the choices made
- Brainstorming, planning
- Methods
- Reflection
- Data management
- Problem solving
- Independent working skills

The purpose of the final year project is to enhance the student’s problem solving abilities, creativity and independent working skills. The project is carried out as a scientific, operational or artistic development task, and it always includes a written report. It can be a design project, a development project, a survey, an assessment project or an operational or artistic unit. The project uses research results and applies appropriate work and research methods. The final year project is connected to professional studies, and is carried out either alone or in a small group. The student is guided in the final year project by a teacher from the degree programme together with other expert instructors, and nowadays often an instructor from working life. The purpose of the final year project is to enhance the student’s professional expertise and enable him or her to be employed in expert positions. The stages of the final year project include selection of subject, scope definition, project planning, data acquisition, material collection and analysis, development and realisation of ideas, assessment, and report writing. Even though there are similar features in the process, the final year project is always one of a kind, since the student, subject and field are different. The final year project is completed by writing a maturity test where the student proves his/her expertise in the subject matter and in Finnish. (Stipulated in statute 352/2003 on universities of applied sciences.)

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

No numerical grade.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

No numerical grade.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

No numerical grade.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The planning phase is accepted when the student has received an official approval for the thesis topic and has written a research plan including a schedule for completing the thesis. In addition, the thesis kickoff meeting has been held and the student is ready to start the execution of the research project.

Further information

No numerical grade is given for the planning and execution phases of the thesis. The entire thesis process is taken into account in the grade of the final phase of the Bachelor's Thesis and it will be reported in the course Bachelor's Thesis - Reporting and the Maturity Test.