Master's thesis 1: Topic and plan (10 ECTS)

Objective

The first course of the Master Thesis work, which includes an introduction to research methods and techniques for knowledge building.

After the course, a student has (1) defined and received an acceptance for the thesis subject and (2) specified a thesis plan.

The plan consists of research questions relevant to the subject, an initial review of previous work to justify the selected topic and research questions, and the methods to come up with answers to the questions. The student can identify and explain different types of research tasks and available research methods and can match these two.

The student has acquired generic abilities to identify gaps in knowledge in a given domain, to organise the concepts of the domain, and to specify a research effort to fill the gaps in knowledge.

Content

- Introduction to research methods
- Techniques for externalization of knowledge and knowledge building
- Learning assignments to examine and scrutinise the topic from different perspectives
- Definition of the topic of the thesis
- Specification of research questions
- Review of the previous work
- Specification of research methods to answer the research questions
- Plan for the implementation of the thesis work

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Evaluation is based on the assessment criteria that are included as appendix of the curriculum. The focus of evaluation is specifically on the definition of the topic, research questions, research methods, and work plan as well as on the background research.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Evaluation is based on the assessment criteria that are included as appendix of the curriculum. The focus of evaluation is specifically on the definition of the topic, research questions, research methods, and work plan as well as on the background research.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Evaluation is based on the assessment criteria that are included as appendix of the curriculum. The focus of evaluation is specifically on the definition of the topic, research questions, research methods, and work plan as well as on the background research.