Bachelor's Degree Programme in Team Academy
Key learning outcomes
Students graduate from the Team Academy degree programme with a comprehensive mastery of business competence; with their individual study paths and learning agreements, they can effectively acquire special competence which allows them to develop their competences along with the changes in the increasingly digital working life. 96% of Team Academy graduates find employment or continue to post-graduate studies. Operating since 1993, Team Academy was selected in 2017 by the European Commission as one of the 25 best European practices in the promotion of entrepreneurship, and it has received a number of national and international awards. The Team Academy’s teaching model has spread from Jyväskylä to a number of countries in Europe, Asia and South America. The degree programme comprises full-time studies.
After the introductory module studies, the students will continue their specialisations in team enterprises that they set up in the Team Academy. The Team Academy is a unit focused on promoting learning and entrepreneurship. The students learn to apply theory to practice by doing business in their own cooperatives. At the Team Academy, students are referred to as team entrepreneurs. The profiles of the students who apply for the Team Academy differ greatly. A typical applicant is a recent secondary school graduate who is primarily interested in learning comprehensive working life skills during their studies rather than becoming an entrepreneur. The Team Academy also has students with previous experience in a specific field of business. On the third year of studies, the Team Academy also offers a study path where the students can develop their own business ideas.
The team entrepreneurs develop the team enterprise they have established, learning together and working with real customers. The aim of a team enterprise is to implement projects, develop their own services and products, and offer these to the customers. The team enterprises and individuals learn and develop their competence through various experiments and experiences. Experiential learning is one of the key theories of learning behind the Team Academy.
Education content and professional growth and know-how
During their first year of study, the students acquire the basic business skills and start working in the team enterprise they set up. A student team entrepreneur learns comprehensively by working in their own team enterprise. In the spring of the first year, the team entrepreneur will get their own team and a coach assigned for their team. The team enterprise starts regular practice sessions with the coach (cf. classroom teaching) in the spring of the first year, building the basic skills. The team members set their first goals and prepare their first learning agreements. During the spring of the first year, the team enterprise has already made its first experiments and projects.
During the second year, the operations of the team enterprise are developed further, learning together with the customers and the coach. The Team Academy is a learning community, which means that in addition to the coach, new team members receive support also from the more experienced team entrepreneurs.
The team enterprise’s management policies and procedures become established towards the end of the second year of studies. The team enterprise and its members, the coach and the customers assess learning and competence development in seven competence areas on a continuous basis. Each team entrepreneur discusses the development of their personal competence with the coach, seeks information actively and builds networks.
Towards the end of their studies, the team entrepreneurs also complete their bachelor’s thesis, the objective of which is to further develop their own competence and business.
Flexible studies
Students have a choice of alternative or elective studies offered by partner universities in Finland and abroad, such as other universities of applied sciences (CampusOnline), universities and educational institutions involved in the EduFutura collaboration (University of Jyväskylä and Gradia). Higher level studies completed elsewhere may be accredited as part of your degree. The student must have a certificate or some other document to prove that they have completed the studies. Skills acquired elsewhere can also be described and demonstrated to enable accreditation. Further information is available in the Study Guide.
Working life oriented learning
In the Team Academy Degree Programme, you will work in your own team enterprise, learning by doing. You will plan and implement projects for your customers. Learning through experience makes the learning process working life, customer and student centred. Your practical training is continuous and integrated into the day-to-day operations of the team enterprise.
Working life oriented learning is included in bachelor’s degree courses throughout the studies. These include practical training to promote professional skills, the thesis and various working life projects. At JAMK University of Applied Sciences, the operating model for working life oriented and student-driven learning is called JAMK Future Factory®. It combines working life operators, students, JAMK experts and working life oriented LAB environments and other learning environments. In addition to multidisciplinary and working life oriented project studies, it offers students a chance to develop their future working life skills, career paths and networks.
Studification is also among the options offered by working life oriented learning. It refers to combining work, project work, Future Factory activities, etc. with studies. Studification involves students drafting a studification plan and documenting it in the manner agreed with the teacher. Further information is available in the Study Guide.
Career opportunities and employment
Example employment profiles of graduates from the Team Academy Degree Programme include: entrepreneur, entrepreneurship adviser, coach, consultant, accountant, payroll clerk, auditor, service adviser, investment manager, marketing director, salesperson, sales manager, shop manager, customer service manager, director of administration, HR assistant, human resources manager, project coordinator, export salesperson, export assistant and teacher.
Qualifications
There are no specific degree-related or statutory qualification requirements in the field.
Further studies
Students may, after graduation and a working career of at least two years, apply for studies leading up to a master’s degree. Studies can also be continued by applying for a university master’s degree programme or similar programmes as well as professional teacher education. After a bachelor’s degree from a university of applied sciences, it is also possible to continue studies at higher education institutes abroad on master’s degree level programmes. A university of applied sciences also provides opportunities for continuing education in the form of specialisation studies, open studies, an online study portal (CampusOnline) and working life based continuing education.
A student who completes a master’s degree at a university of applied sciences may apply to continue on to postgraduate studies in science or arts at universities (Act 558/2009, Section 37).
Education planning
The advisory board of the School of Business has been active in providing feedback, because a significant number of practical training supervisors of business administration students and employers of graduates are represented in the advisory board. In addition, the specialisation options have been presented to the large employers in the region. The cooperation with the interest groups in the region is continuous and multifaceted, and the whole teaching staff is involved in the networking.
Various kinds of feedback on the studies are collected from the students, and during the last few years, the students have been involved in the audit of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council as well as competitions of pedagogic centres of excellence. The feedback from the students has had a significant impact on the diversification of the learning methods and the expanded offering of online studies. The 100% online part-time studies have been developed based on the feedback received from adult education.
Contact Information
Hirsilä Matti
Head of Department, Global Competence
+358405215637
firstname.lastname@jamk.fi