Purpose: Higher educational institutions, such as universities of applied sciences, have a significant role in promoting progress towards a sustainable future as defined by the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper aims to identify how the UN SDGs are featured in master's theses set in work-life contexts.…

Students seem to encounter various challenges when writing bachelor's and master's theses, indicating a need to support them in their writing processes. In this study, academic writing workshops for students writing bachelor's and master's theses were developed and investigated during three years of a participatory action research project. The…

This study reports on an interview-based study of thesis supervisors' attitudes on initiating discussions on students' expectations and prior thesis writing experiences in international master's degree programmes. One aim of this study is to identify the various practices which supervisors implement and the reasoning they use to foster a…

All higher education institutions in Finland are committed to following the guidelines of good scientific practice and procedures to handle allegations of misconduct compiled by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. However, there is no research available in what way institutions follow these guidelines. This article analyses the…

This paper provides insights into thesis supervisors' perceptions of the supervisory relationship and process in English-medium international master's degree programmes (IMDPs). It contributes to the field of supervisory pedagogy in a master's level education by examining how supervisors perceive their supervisory practices and what they consider…

Mathematics and statistics major master graduates of a Finnish university answered a questionnaire about the master thesis process. Their response was analyzed to find connections of the topic and supervisor selection to the factors supporting and preventing the master thesis progress. Certainty of the thesis topic and of selecting a supervisor…

Academic emotions in the context of master's thesis work is a highly understudied issue. This study examined the association between self-regulated learning skills and academic emotions elicited by master's thesis work. Altogether, 84 behavioural sciences students conducting their master's theses completed a survey comprised of a modified version…

The aim of the current case study is to investigate the master's theses written in 2016 and 2017 by primary school student teachers at a teacher education department in Finland. 111 theses were analyzed focusing on four distinct aspects of the thesis: topic, perspective, research approach and data collection method. The aim is further to discuss…

Academic supervision of PhD dissertations and master's theses has traditionally been conceptualised as the pedagogy of the dyadic relationship between master and apprentice. Recently, researchers have argued for a more systemic approach. Yet, many communities lack practices for sharing the pedagogical responsibility of supervision. Consequently,…

This paper employs an intercultural perspective to examine students' views on master's thesis supervision and the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and students. The 302 respondents who answered the online questionnaire were enrolled in international master's degree programmes in four Finnish universities. The study revealed asymmetric…

Researching can be viewed as a way of analysing issues of schooling by linking theoretical knowledge with perceptions of educational reality already during teacher education. Not only does practicing teaching provide a context for analysing instruction, learning, school culture, diversity, or any other issue related to schooling, also researching…

The paper focuses on a routine activity of academic supervision: Giving and receiving feedback based on the student's master's thesis manuscript. Two case analyses are presented on fundamentally critical feedback. Such feedback constitutes a recommendation to the student to seriously rethink the thesis, but there are various interactional…

The purpose of this research is to seek the connection between professional development and an MA thesis research project, which is conducted as part of initial teacher education in Finland. This article examines the experiences of teachers with work experience, but without an official qualification, who recently completed their MA thesis. The…

Introduction: The Internet has radically changed the global availability of scholarly publications. Today, a substantial part of the resources accessible for researchers and university students are offered through electronic site licenses, making the supply of easily obtainable information larger than ever. This brings forth an important question:…