Examination arrangement

Course content

This course consists of work with the Master’s thesis.

The Master’s thesis is an independent academic research project that is carried out as the final activity within the Master’s degree, under the supervision of research staff. The Master’s thesis should be original, critical, ethical, methodical, informed, and clearly articulated, connected to an arts educational theme.

The research topic and research question for the thesis is decided by the student in consultation with the supervisor.

The research project can be theory driven or practice-led, but the result that will be evaluated is a written Master’s thesis.

All students are entitled to conduct the Master’s thesis individually. In certain cases, it may be appropriate to write the thesis in pairs. This is determined in consultation with the course coordinator and supervisor and should be noted within the research proposal offered by the students.

The master's thesis has a scope of 45 credits, equivalent to 1.5 semesters of full-time study.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The student

• has advanced and specialized knowledge of relevant theories and current research within the chosen arts education field
• has thorough understanding of academic thinking, research methods, research ethics, and specialized knowledge of the chosen research method(s) applied in the thesis
• has advanced knowledge of academic writing and dissemination in arts education research
• has advanced knowledge about different, written and multimodal possibilities in arts education academic formats
• has thorough understanding of reference systems and the formal requirements for academic texts

Skills

The student

• can conceptualize and execute an independent research project aligned with research ethics and formal requirements under supervision
• can independently employ relevant methods for arts education research
• can locate relevant scholarly literature and critically assess various analogue and digital information sources
• can confidently present research findings and theorize around practice-led or theory-driven research through academic writing on Master’s level
• can choose among available theoretical options, read research material with theory and critically reflect on how theory informs choices during the research and writing processes
• Use referencing systems in accordance with the existing standards

General competence

The student can

• Apply academic knowledge and skills to address arts education issues
• Disseminate independent research using the field's expressions and characteristics
• Engage in professional and educational discussions, initiate developmental processes, and contribute to innovation within arts education
• Benefit from supervision

Learning methods and activities

The learning methods consists of seminars, presentations, individual work and supervision.

Students’ collaborations with arts educational institutions of relevance for the own master’s project must be arranged by the students themselves.

Supervision is mandatory when working on the Master's thesis and is carried out in consultation with the appointed supervisor.

For collaborative writing, students must have a written agreement (a specific form) beforehand. The agreement involves both students and the supervisor. The thesis must include a process document detailing the collaborative process, including responsibilities and work distribution. This process document is taken into consideration by the examiners of the thesis.

Compulsory course work

There are four compulsory assignements:

• Midway seminar
• Final seminar
• Supervision
• Presentation

Students shall attend both seminars, during which they present the advancement of their master`s thesis project and give a peer-review to one of their fellow students.

All compulsory assignments must be approved in order to submit the master’s thesis.

Compulsory activities

Individual and collective work and preparations for the compulsory assignments

• Midway seminar
• Final seminar

• Supervision
• Presentation

Compulsory assignments

• Participation mid-seminar
• Participation end-seminar
• Supervision

Further on evaluation

The master's thesis is evaluated individually on a grading scale of A-F, where A-E denote passing grades, and F indicates fail

The Master's thesis is assessed by an external and internal examiner.

In the case of collaborative writing, the process document is part of the assessment criteria. While the thesis is jointly assessed, the grade is individual, and students have individual appeal rights.

The thesis's length is 25,000-35,000 words for an individual thesis and 35,000-45,000 words for a collaborative thesis. Additional sections such as cover page, preface, summary, table of contents, bibliography, tables, and appendices come in addition.

All other courses at the study program must be completed and approved before submitting the master's thesis.

Specific conditions

Requires admission to the study program: Master of education (MDID) - arts education

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

All first-year courses in the Master of Education program, arts education, should be completed before starting this course.

Required previous knowledge

The course requires admission to the Master in Education program, arts education. The compulsory requirements in DID3005 To become a researcher in arts education must be approved, but the exam does not have to be passed.

Course materials

Individually chosen reading material in agreement with the supervisor

Any art materials for the master's project that are not available at the Department of Teacher Education must be purchased and paid for by the student.