Finishing the thesis
The finishing of the thesis consists of the assessment, writing a maturity test, and the publication of the thesis.
Assessment
A successfully completed thesis follows the objectives of your degree programme, the instructions for thesis and ethical principles.
In addition to the grade, you will receive feedback on your thesis if you wish.
Bachelor
Self-assessment throughout the Bachelor’s thesis process improves your learning. You will receive feedback on your thesis from the supervising teacher, the client and from the peer reviewers at the possible seminars. Your bachelor’s thesis is graded by the staff of the Oulu University of Applied Sciences.
Bachelor’s thesis is graded on a numerical scale of 0–5. The aspects taken into consideration in the assessment are choice and planning of subject, implementation, written reporting and the whole Bachelor’s thesis process, taking into account the nature of the Bachelor’s thesis. The grade is awarded for the entire thesis and describes the quality of the whole process.
Download the assessment criteria and their grade descriptions
Download the thesis assessment forms
Master
Master’s thesis is graded on a numerical scale of 0–5. The aspects taken into consideration in the assessment are topic, purpose and objectives, theoretical background, implementation, results and conclusions, reflection and examination, process, reporting and the whole Master’s thesis process, taking into account the nature of the Master’s thesis. The grade is awarded for the entire thesis and describes the quality of the whole process.
Download the thesis assessment forms
Maturity Test
For your degree, you are required to write a maturity test on the subject of your thesis, which will show your familiarity with the subject as well as skills in Finnish or Swedish (Government Decree on Polytechnics 1229/2014, Section 8).
The structure, content and style of the maturity test must be harmonious. Apply the knowledge and skills you have learnt during the thesis process to your maturity test, and show your ability to communicate professionally and manage different text types in your profession.
The maturity test can be written in the form of an essay, article, blog, press release, professional seminar or poster presentation. Ask your thesis examiner for more information on the different forms of maturity tests.
In essay form, you should write it at an evaluation event after the thesis has been accepted. The essay either has one topic or you may be able to choose from several given topics. Here are some example topics:
- The meaning of your thesis for this profession’s working life and its development
- How has the thesis process developed your professional skills?
- The opportunities and development targets of the thesis
In the article the results, conclusions and discussion of the theses are presented. A successful article is informative and the progresses logically. The maturity test is an article manuscript, which probably still needs to be edited before its publication. Different publishers have their own guidelines regarding for example the structure of the article.
Compared to an article, the style of the blog is freer, sometimes also more personal. It is still written from an expert’s point of view. A blog is usually shorter and more reflective than an article.
There are different options for publishing an article or a blog. For example, you can offer you maturity test to be published in Oamk Journal as an article or blog, but only after your language teacher and supervisor have approved it. If they suggest corrections, do them before sending the article or blog to Oamk Journal.
If you have received your education in Finnish or Swedish, please write your maturity test in the same language. The language of your degree programme does not influence the language of the maturity test.
If you have received your education abroad or in some other language than Finnish or Swedish, please write your maturity test in English.
For justified reasons, you may apply for an exception in the language of the maturity test in Pulmu. The director of school makes the decision based on a proposal by the head of studies.
The maturity test will be assessed on a scale of pass or fail.
The following is assessed for the familiarity with the subject:
- the content’s connection with the thesis
- the content shows expertise in the degree subject
- the content matches the title
The thesis supervisor assesses familiarity with the field.
When the maturity test has been written in Finnish or Swedish, in addition to familiarity with the subject, the language is assessed, as well. The maturity test with approved language fulfils the following criteria:
- The text is a clear and understandable entity that the reader can understand without familiarizing themselves with the thesis of the maturity test.
- The text follows the assignment (e.g., text type, target group) and the objective of the text is met.
- The text proceeds logically and has a clear structure.
- The language is polished and refined for the most part, and the text uses good factual style. Possible linguistic errors do not significantly impede the understanding of the text.
- The terminology of one’s own field has been used appropriately.
- Perspectives or arguments are substantiated, i.e. argued.
When the maturity test for Bachelor degree is written in Finnish or Swedish, the Language Centre evaluates the language of the maturity test on a scale passed/to be supplemented. If the maturity test is assessed to be supplemented, the student will receive feedback on the text from the language assessor in order to prepare to supplement the maturity test. When the maturity test is written in a language other than Finnish or Swedish, the familiarity with the subject is assessed by the thesis supervisor. The language of the maturity test is not assessed.
The language of the maturity test for the Master degree is not evaluated separately, because it will not be entered on the degree certificate.
Publication
You will save your approved and linguistically revised thesis in Theseus. It is not possible to make alterations to the document once it has been saved.
Theseus is a service of Arene ry, the Rectors’ Confrence of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences, which offers theses and publications online from Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences. Theseus publication options are
- Open collection: the thesis in the open Internet or
- Restricted collection: limited use only in IP-addresses specified by your university
The student and the client agree on the reporting of the thesis to one of the above collections.
You will receive a confirmation message once your thesis has been processed and published.
Open university of applied sciences students save their thesis in Theseus when they have received the right to study as a degree student. Double degree students make their final thesis to their own home university. This thesis will not be published on Theseus.
Several Authors in the Thesis
If you have done your thesis in pairs or in groups, agree together which of you will make the Theseus saving. It is enough to save the thesis only once. If the authors are from different degree programmes, the library will add to Theseus those degree programmes that could not be saved on the form.
If the authors are from different universities of applied sciences, the thesis must be saved in each author’s own university of applied sciences collection.