SFB34420 Bachelor's Thesis (Spring 2023)
Facts about the course
- ECTS Credits:
- 10
- Responsible department:
- Faculty of Computer Science, Engineering and Economics
- Campus:
- Halden
- Course Leader:
- Lilja Mosesdottir
- Teaching language:
- Norwegian and English
- Duration:
- ½ year
The course is connected to the following study programs
Mandatory course in the bachelorprogramme i Business and administration, specializing in:
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Economic analysis
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International Business
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Sustainable Management
Absolute requirements
All courses in the first year of the study programme must be passed to start this course.
Recommended requirements
The course builds on all mandatory courses in the bachelor’s programme in Business Administration (1st to 4th semester) or equivalent courses from other universities. Courses in methods as Mathematics and statistics and Applied methods and statistics are particularly important.
Lecture Semester
6.th semester (spring)
The student's learning outcomes after completing the course
Knowledge
The student has
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familiarity with theories and recent research on own theme and chosen research problem.
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relevant major alternatives for research design
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knowledge of relevant alternative methods for data collection and analysis
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knowledge of major sources of previous research, and data, and of how to refer to different types of sources both in the running text and in the list at the end of the thesis.
Skills
The student knows
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how to formulate a feasible research problem
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how to carry out critical literature search and refer to other researchers’ contributions
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setting up of an appropriate design for studying the chosen problem
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evaluating pros and cons of different methods of analysis
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how to collect data (e.g. archival, panel, survey, interview, focus groups)
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carrying out a research process in accordance with academic standards and norms
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planning and writing a complete academic report
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presenting work-in-process and early findings orally for comments
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incorporating relevant feedback into the thesis work
General competence
The student can:
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making own decisions based on written material and input from interviewees, respondents, fellow students and supervisor(s)
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credibility evaluation of sources and statements
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learning to consider validity and reliability in research practice
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learning a constructive discussion style in small groups and larger audiences
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evaluation of own work in terms of value adding/contribution to common knowledge base
Content
Analysis and discussion of managerial or theoretical research problems in economics, business or management. The emphasis is on current topics, newer models and hypotheses.
The seminar is part of the guidance/advisory process. In the process, students learn to ask relevant questions and filter the answers they receive for relevance and credibility. Students involve themselves in either qualitative or quantitative data collection/analysis. During the semester students present their work for the other participants and receive feedback.
Forms of teaching and learning
Self-governed activity in groups of two to three students. Support from the seminar coordinator and supervisor throughout the semester. Lectures/short digital presentations of topics common to all. Discussions and Q&A in class. Frequent feedback waves on short written tasks on major components of each group’s (or students) thesis. Theme-specific guidance by supervisor(s). Each group (or student) writes a bachelor thesis on an agreed upon topic, and submits a brief description of the bachelor's project with student photos to be presented in the EXPO catalogue.
Workload
The course will give the student approximately 280 hours of work.
Practical training/internship
No practice.
Coursework requirements - conditions for taking the exam
Assignment 1: Four well-prepared (group) meetings with the supervisor over the semester.
Assignment 2: Submission, presentation and students’ peer assessment of project plan.
Approved assignments are a prerequisite for submission of the thesis.
Examination
Written bachelor thesis in groups of 2-3 students must be 6000 (+/- 10%) and individual assignments of 4000 (+/- 10%) words.
Examiners
One internal and one external examiner, or two internal examiners.
Conditions for resit/rescheduled exams
Regulations governing Examinations, Admission to Study and Degrees at Østfold University College.
Chapter 6-3:
(7) A student who has been awarded a fail grade for their bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis or another major, independent work can submit a reworked version for assessment once.
(8) If a student wishes to improve the grade for their bachelor’s thesis, master’s thesis or another major independent work, it cannot be reworked but must be rewritten with a new research question. The student is not entitled to more academic supervision in such cases, however.
Course evaluation
To improve the course, we need the evaluations from the students. The course is evaluated by the students and the evaluations from the students are treated by the staff and the faculty's committee for quality of education.