ERGOB3900 Professional Development and Methods - Bachelor Thesis Course description

In their third year, students will work on a bachelor thesis. The work on the bachelor thesis provides the students with experience of systematic project work over time, where professional development and the development of new knowledge in common is key. Philosophy of science and research methodology knowledge and skills are recurrent topics in the work on the bachelor’s thesis.

In part one, which starts at the beginning of the autumn semester, focus will be on how to plan project work. The student will start by working in-depth with a topic that forms the basis for their bachelor thesis. This takes place by applying for a research or development project available at OsloMet or other partner institutions. Students will be assigned a supervisor who follows the development of the project outline.

In part two, which concludes the programme, focus will be on completing the project and writing the bachelor’s thesis.

The bachelor’s thesis must be related to a research and development work in occupational therapy and occupational science.

Passed first and second year of the programme or equivalent.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge 

The student 

• has broad knowledge of updated national and international research on the topic of the bachelor’s thesis
• has knowledge of professional development and project work and can use the knowledge in his/her own project 
• has knowledge of philosophy of science, research ethics and research methods, and is capable of discussing how this impacts the development of knowledge in occupational therapy

Skills 

The student is capable of 

• applying problem-solving and creative strategies in the development of a project outline
• preparing a research question and a project plan
• using philosophy of science, research ethics and methods to his/her own bachelor’s degree project
• applying a relevant scientific method and conducting data collection and analysis
• preparing an abstract and bachelor’s thesis based on traditions in research dissemination
• obtaining, applying and discussing relevant research articles and other specialist literature from national and international R&D work on the topic of the bachelor thesis
• discussing the bachelor thesis’ topic and results in relation to occupational therapy theory and occupational science
• discussing, assessing and reflecting on results and factors that have influenced the results’ reliability and validity

General competence

The student is capable of 

• planning and carrying out an occupational therapy development project in cooperation with others under supervision
• critically reflecting on research ethics issues and guidelines
• communicating in written form, discussing and presenting the results of his/her own project

Work and teaching methods include independent work, project work in groups and seminars. The seminars will focus on philosophy of science and different scientific methods and approaches. Digital learning resources will be made available to students in advance and the time they spend at the university will be used for discussion and group work.

Project work

Students work independently in groups and receive supervision in relation to the project work and how to write assignments. In part one, the students are to document a project plan through writing a project outline. In part two, the students are to carry out the project and write the bachelor thesis. The supervision is organised on the basis of the projects the students work on, and takes place partly in larger groups with presentations and discussions with peer feedback, and partly in the individual bachelor groups.

In order to be permitted to sit the exam, the following must have been approved: 

• a minimum of 80 per cent attendance in scheduled teaching
• a written assignment in the form of a project outline for the bachelor thesis, up to 3,000 words. The project description must be written and submitted in groups normally comprising two students.

Written bachelor’s thesis in groups normally comprising two students, up to 7,000 words.

Resit exam: If the bachelor’s thesis is awarded a fail grade, the students have the right to submit a reworked version once.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

A-F.

All exam papers are assessed by two examiners. An external examiner will assess at least 20% of the papers together with an internal examiner. Other exams are assessed by two internal examiners. The external examiner’s assessment shall benefit all students.