Course content

This course consists of work with the Master’s thesis. The subject has no scheduled teaching.

The Master’s thesis with creative practice is an independent academic research project that is carried out as the final activity within the Master’s degree, under the supervision of research staff. The Master’s thesis should be original, critical, ethical, methodical, informed, and clearly articulated, connected to an arts educational theme.

The research topic and research question for the thesis is decided by the student in consultation with the supervisor.

The that will be evaluated is a corpus of creative work and a written Master’s thesis that are clearly connected. The corpus of creative work can be presented as part of the printed thesis, as a digital recording, as a live performance, workshop, event, exhibition or other creative output as agreed with the supervisor. The creative work and the written thesis are expected to be distinct yet interdependent, presenting an integrated approach to the research topic.

The work on the Master's thesis should be equivalent of 1.5 semesters of full-time work effort.

All students are entitled to conduct the Master’s thesis individually. In certain cases, it may be appropriate to write the thesis in pairs. This is determined in consultation with the supervisor and the course coordinator and should be noted within the research proposal offered by the students.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The candidate

• has advanced and independent knowledge in methodological, ethical and critical research work with a clear research question within arts education
• has thorough knowledge about creative practice and presentation
• has thorough knowledge about academic writing and presentation
• has advanced knowledge about different, written, multimodal and artistic possibilities in arts educational research

​Skills

The candidate

• can confidently conduct and present a Master’s level research project with creative practice
• can confidently present research findings through creative practice
• can confidently present research findings and theorize around research through academic writing on Master’s level
• can choose among available theoretical options, read research material with theory and critically reflect around how theory informs choices during the research and writing processes
• can use referencing systems in accordance with recognized standards
• can find and critically evaluate information in analogue and digital resources

General competence

The candidate

• is capable of utilizing supervision
• has thorough competence in dialoguing with others about own research results, as well as defending own work
• can analyse and apply current theory on arts education in order to contribute to new thinking and innovation processes on an advanced level
• can apply her/his knowledge about arts education in order to strengthen, develop and work innovatively the role and value of the arts in new areas on a broad educational and societal field

Learning methods and activities

Learning methods

The learning methods consists of seminars, presentations, individual work and supervision.

Students’ collaborations with different arts educational institutions will be encouraged. These collaborations of relevance for the own master project must be arranged by the students themselves.

Compulsory activities

There are two compulsory activities:

• Supervision. Supervision is mandatory when working on the Master's thesis and is carried out in consultation with the appointed supervisor.
• Presentation, arts-based and verbally, at two seminars, with one seminar including peer review.

If co-writing, the students must enter into a written agreement about the collaboration in advance (using a separate form) of the collaboration. The parties to the agreement are the two students and the supervisor. In the Master’s thesis, a process document must be attached that describes the completed collaboration process, including the division of responsibilities and work. This process document is also taken into consideration by the examiners of the thesis.

All compulsory activities must be passed in order to take the examinations for this course.

Compulsory assignments

• Participation mid-seminar
• Participation end-seminar
• Supervision
• Oral presentation of master prosject

Further on evaluation

The form of assessment in this course is a creative practice output and a written master's thesis, which is assessed by an internal and external examiner according to grade scale A-F, where grade A-E is a pass and grade F is a fail. The creative practice output and the written component must be clearly connected and investigate the same problem area. An overall grade is given for the creative practice and the written work.

The creative practice must be done in accordance with guidelines and requirements given by the academic coordinator.

The scope of the written component should be between 15,000-20,000 words. Front page, preface, summary, table of contents, bibliography, tables and appendices are in addition.

All courses in the study program must be passed before the written master's thesis and the creative practice can be completed and submitted.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

It is recommended that all courses in the first year of study in the Master's in Education, within the study programme of arts education, are passed before starting the course.

Required previous knowledge

The subject is restricted to candidates that have received study right to the programme Master’s in Arts Education.

The compulsory activities (but not the exams) in DID3105, Arts Education Research, must be passed in order to be able to register for this course.