SYKP3900B Bachelor's Thesis Course description

The bachelor’s thesis is the final academic in-depth paper in the nursing programme. Through the work on the bachelor’s thesis, the student will delve into a delimited area of research, and have the opportunity to develop his/her own academic independence. The topic must be linked to the nursing profession, patients and/or next-of-kin. The bachelor’s thesis must include systematic literature searches to apply results from recent research related to the chosen research question. The bachelor’s thesis must be presented in a systematic and clear manner. The title of the bachelor’s thesis will also be included on the diploma.

In the autumn semester, some teaching will be set up in connection with, for example, the development of a preliminary topic and problem for the bachelor thesis, cf. the work requirement Project description for the bachelor thesis.

Language of instruction: Norwegian/English

Under supervision, the students will conduct an independent research or development project, or a literaturestudy. Students can choose to write the master’s thesis individually or in pairs. On application, large, interdisciplinary innovation projects can be written in groups of up to four students. Students can also apply to write the master’s thesis with students from other specialisations if they so wish, provided that the scope of the master’s thesis is the same. If more than one student work on the master’s thesis together, each student’s contributions must be documented. The thesis can be written as a monograph or as a scientific article on a specialised topic.

Development of the project description in preparation for the master’s thesis is part of the course MAVIT4070 Research Design and Project Description, 10 ECTS credits.

MAVIT4070/MAxxx4070 must be passed before the student can start to work on the master's thesis.

All compulsory courses in the programme must be passed before the student can submit their master's thesis for assessment.

Lectures, seminars, supervision, and self-study. All students will be allocated a supervisor.

The following coursework requirement must have been approved in order for the student to take the examination:

• Project description for the bachelor’s thesis, scope 1,000 words (+/- 10%).
• Completed supervision, three compulsory supervision sessions out of the four sessions offered.

Bachelor’s thesis.

• Literature review.
• Normally written in group with 2-3 students.
• Scope of 8,000 words (+/- 10%).

Resits/rescheduled exam: If the bachelor’s thesis is awarded a fail grade, the student has the right to submit a reworked version once.

The master’s thesis written by one or two students. Large, interdisciplinary innovation projects can be written in groups of up to four students on application. Individual oral examination where the grade can be adjusted.

The content and scope of different forms of master's theses:

• Monograph: Recommended scope of a monographic assignment is 22,000 words +/- 10%

• Scientific article: The thesis must include a manuscript in the form of at least one article that is in accordance with the author guidelines for a relevant scientific journal, and a supplementary memo/introductory chapter to the article-based thesis ('kappe') that elaborates on the theoretical and methodological considerations underlying the article. The layout, structure and scope of the article must comply with the guidelines of the journal in question, and the introductory chapter to the article-based thesis can be a maximum of 10,000 words.

The thesis can be written in English or a Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish).

The written thesis must be awarded a grade of A-E (preliminary grade) in order for a student to take the oral examination. The final grade is set after the oral examination. The whole grade scale can be used when setting the final grade.

An individual oral examination lasting up to 40 minutes based on the master’s thesis. The candidate gives a 10 - 15 minutes presentation of their master’s thesis at the start of the oral examination.

Students can appeal against the grade set for the written part of the examination in accordance with the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with. There is an opportunity to reuse self-produced text from MAVIT4070 in the master's thesis without self-citation.

Grade scale A-F.

All examinations are assessed by an internal and an external examiner. The student's supervisor cannot be an examiner for the master's thesis.