Examination arrangement

Course content

The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a foundational competence in developing and conducting a longer, independently developed, written academic work.

The course formally starts in the fall semester when students form their groups (2-4 students) and pick a project within their discipline.

The department can suggest projects, or student may find one on their own. A project must have an employer.

Students studying abroad in the 5th semester are encouraged to find a bachelor group before traveling and should communicate closely with their group members during the pre-project activities.

Students may form cross-disciplinary groups/projects, but only after discussing the potential challenges and opportunities with the course responsible.

Learning outcome

After completing the course, the student will have acquired the following:

Knowledge

• design a problem statement
• new knowledge within a self-chosen part of their subject area comprehensive understanding of methodological work, including the ability to reflect and a systematic / scientific assessment
• knowledge of planning and performing an independent task, formulating problems and analyzing these based on both theoretical and empirical material and carrying out a task in a methodologically satisfactory manner
• knowledge of the UN's sustainability goals, as well as how their own work can be assessed in light of these goals

Skills

• prepare and communicate specific issues within the subject area, under supervision
• identify and evaluate literature relevant to the issue, under supervision
• go in depth on limited issues and prepare concrete solution alternatives to the problem
• document and communicate the results of the project work in a systematic / scientific way
• make a precise delimitation and description of a larger work in collaboration with others
• document a systematically larger work as a report
• prepare and perform a visual/oral summary of a larger work in collaboration with others

General competence

General competence is, according to the National Agency for Quality in Education, NOKUT: "... to be able to apply knowledge and skills independently in different situations by showing the ability to cooperate, responsibility, ability to reflect and critical thinking in educational and professional contexts." . This summarizes in a good way what the students have been through in this bachelor's project.

• through having shown independence, responsibility and ability to cooperate through having independently found/established a group of people with overlapping interests, developed, described, implemented, documented and presented this project
• by having shown the ability for reflection and critical thinking by having described the project's impact on society in the light of the UN's sustainability goals and thus awareness of the problem formulation and the work's consequences for the client, individuals and society

Learning methods and activities

• Lectures/seminars
• Supervision

Compulsory activities

1. deliverable: Establish a group, find an employer/project, contract signed by employer, brief project outline, supervisor pitch
2. deliverable: Formal project outline, with working title, prosject plan, return signed contract to employer
3. compulsory activity: seminar

All compulsory work requirements must be approved in order to submit the bachelor's thesis.

Compulsory assignments

• Group and project establishment
• Project outline and plan
• Seminar

Further on evaluation

The course is graded based on the final project report, its respective attachments and an oral presentation. The students will receive a total grade from A to F.

• The project have to document the work using relevant scientific methods, discuss the impact the project has on people and/or society and use UNs sustainability goal as the foundation for this discussion
• All the participants in the group will have to participate in a visual/oral presentation of the work, before the semester ends, in front of an audience of internal and external sensors and others

The students are expected to have used the combined learning outcome of their past courses in the execution of the project.

If the bachelor thesis is assessed as failed or grade F, the student(s) must submit a new answer. Improvement/reworking is not sufficient. The thesis can present the same topic area with the same empirical/data basis. A bachelor's thesis that has been assessed as passed cannot be submitted for a new assessment, even in a revised form. In the case of voluntary repetition, a completely new assignment must be submitted. Students who want a voluntary repetition of a passed bachelor thesis are not entitled to teaching / supervision in connection with the submission of a new thesis.

In all cases of retaking the course, all compulsory activites must be resubmitted.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

The students must have passed 100 ECTS credits from semester 1-4 within September 1st in the year the bachelor project starts before they are eligible for the bachelor course.

Course materials

Suggested literature:

• Aage Rognsaa, Bacheloroppgaven, Universitetsforlaget 2015
• Lotte Rienecker, Peter Stray Jørgensen, Den gode oppgaven, Fagbokforlaget, 2013