Master's Thesis, Research Writing (3cr)

Materials

American Psychological Association. (2020). *Publication manual of the American Psychological Association* (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Evaluation scale

Pass/Fail

Completion alternatives

Recognition of Prior Learning and Experience (eRPL):

If you have completed a comparable graduate level course at another university within the last five years, you may apply for Recognition of Prior Learning and Experience (eRPL).

"Recognition can be applied for once the student has begun the Thesis process at Jamk. If a student's whole thesis is recognized, the writing course will also be recognized in this process." (https://jamkstudent.sharepoint.com/:u:/r/sites/Kieli-ja-viestintaopinnot-Elmo/SitePages/en/Recognition-of-prior-learning-and-experience.aspx?csf=1&web=1&e=b62rGd)

Further information

Course assignments: Individual and group work reviewed and approved by the course lecturer.

Final report: Criterion-referenced assessment guided by AI (Copilot).

Virtual portion

3

Student workload

Student workload for this course is 81 hours spread out over the course of 6 weeks, which translates to approximately 13.5 hours of study per week. The course is managed and implemented according to a fairly fast-paced and intensive schedule, so please be aware of this and prepared to maintain the necessary output of work to stay with the program.

Weekly study may include any or all of the following:

* contact and/or virtual lesson attendance (1.5 hrs),
* reading course materials and messages in Moodle (2.5 hrs),
* homework (4 hrs),
* group meetings (4 hrs),
* practice and self-study regarding the use of hardware and software for making various types of recordings (1.5 hrs)

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The course is marked as passed when all assignments have been completed and they demonstrate that the themes of the course have been studied and the learning materials have been utilized in the process.

Content scheduling

Lecture recordings to be watched according to the following suggested schedule:

Monday, September 8 (Video 1)
Monday, September 29 (Video 2)
Monday, October 27 (Video 3)

For complete details on course timing and assignment deadlines, see the Moodle workspace.

Exam schedules

Final report submission: Sunday, November 9, 2025

Resit 1: Sunday, November 30, 2025

Resit 2: Sunday, December 21, 2025

Teaching language

en

Teaching methods

Online learning with a timetable.

Location and time

This course will be implemented during the Autumn semester 2025 from September 8–November 9 as online learning with a timetable.

The Moodle workspace opens to students approximately one week before course start.

The course starts on September 8, 2025.

The final date for assignment submissions is November 9, 2025. After this date, you cannot submit your assignments anymore.

The course ends on November 9, 2025.

Course assessments will be ready by December 8, 2025. Please note that assignments are not graded during public holidays or other school breaks.

Number of ECTS credits allocated

3

Qualifications

You have completed the Research-Based Development course and Phase 1 of the Thesis Plan, which is described on the Thesis webpage in JAMK's Open Study Materials.

Content

The writing process
Structure of the thesis
Basic principles of citation
Argumentation
Narrative of the thesis

Objective

The content of the course is specifically designed to support theses that serve the development and renewal of working life. During the course, the focus is on writing the theoretical basis of your own thesis.

You will gain the needed confidence in your research-style writing to be able to work on your thesis and write authentic, factual text based on published sources, follow the principles of scientific writing, and demonstrate your ability to write in accordance with the style manual designated by JAMK (Project Reporting Instructions/APA 7).