Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR): Guide: Process for bachelor's degree

Article

Phases of thesis work process, progress and working life and project cooperation

A thesis consisting of part accomplishments and joint writing

Seminar work and thesis guidance

Studies in the Finnish language and communication and support of information specialists

The utilization of the thesis work process and its results and the evaluation of the thesis

Mika Alavaikko and the team: Marja-Liisa Läksy, Elina Pekonen, Hannu Piiroinen, Sami Ritokoski, Kirsi Sukula-Ruusunen and Olli Vesterinen

In this article, the thesis work process for Finnish social and health care degree programs is described. The thesis work processes pertaining to the English Degree in Social Services (DSS) and Finnish Interpreter Degree in Humanities & Education are beyond the scope of this description.

In the article, we talk about the student in the singular for the most part. It is possible to carry out the thesis also as pair work or in a group.

Phases of thesis work process, progress and working life and project cooperation

The thesis work progresses via the PROD study modules in the DSS 2016 Curriculum. These study modules include Professional Developmental Tools in the Working Life 1-2 (PDT) preparing for the thesis and the actual thesis study modules Participatory and Research-oriented Development 1-4 (RES).

The thesis work must be working life oriented: the ideas and aim must be connected with the Diak projects and working life partnerships. The aim is a process whereby the users of services, professionals and citizens are not subjects of action but active participants.

The following figure contains the Diak thesis work path in a condensed form. The entirety consists of study modules and their core content as well as learning tasks. The learning tasks for the study modules in question have been planned in such a way that the productions can form independent publishable unities and that one can create the thesis out of the productions that have come about during the process. The student compiles the thesis productions and achievements by means of portfolio tools, for example.

FIGURE 1. Central parts of the process: central guidance and permit to progress.

The thesis work plan principally equals the completing of the RES2 study module. If the student’s study path becomes faster owing to the RPL (recognition prior learning) and/or PSP (personal study plan) , the thesis plan can be done earlier.

However, one should not rush when choosing the topic for the thesis work. The content of professional studies will open up new vistas as the studies progress, and they may be ignored if the topic for the thesis is chosen before the fifth thematic unity. The thesis work plan unites the RES study modules with the thesis group guidance. The thesis work plan must be approved in the thesis group guidance before the practical implementation of the thesis begins. Thus it is also in part a completion of the RES2 study module.

The students are referred to the thesis guidance groups during the RES1 study module. If the topic for the thesis work becomes clear earlier, the student will be referred to the thesis guidance group even prior to that. In this case, the topic for the thesis work and the working life partner must be known.  

Another important phase is presenting the manuscript and its approval. Only thereafter can the thesis be submitted for pre-examination. By the manuscript we mean a phase in the report which includes all the elements of the thesis report. At this phase, at the latest, it is appropriate to take into account aspects concerning anti-plagiarism, so that one will not come across this issues for the first time only after submitting the thesis. From the viewpoint of the curriculum, the manuscript is connected with the completion mark for the RES3 study model.

TABLE 1. The thesis work path in its entirety and the central content of DSS 2016 Curriculum

The learning tasks pertaining to the above study modules are carried out in working life environments.

TABLE 2 Outlining the thesis work path as a process.

In the cooperation between the students, teachers, projects as well as working life partners, the central parts are the Community Partnership Event and the PROD and Community Workshops.

At each Diak campus, an Community Partnership Event or a similar event is organized regularly. It is a recruiting and cooperation event. The projects and cooperation partners at each campus are invited to present cooperation possibilities. The Community Partnership Event gives the students a possibility to have an overall picture of Diak projects and working life partnerships and find cooperation partners for different study modules.   

The PROD and Community Workshops are long-term cooperation partnerships. Additional information on the PROD and Community Workshops can be found on Diak web pages.

Working life orientation is one central evaluation criterion (Thesis work evaluation criteria, Point I). By participating in the Community Partnership Events and linking the topic of the thesis with the PROD or Community Workshop, it is possible to contribute to the realization of this aim.

A thesis consisting of part accomplishments and joint writing

The students collect the learning tasks pertaining to the thesis work and the study modules by utilizing the portfolio tool, for example.

The thesis process provides an opportunity to apply different documentation and information retrieval methods. The students’ process is supported in the method workshops. The method workshops are part of the RES1 and RES2 study modules and one must participate in them. The content of the workshops is:

• The literature review workshop
• The workshop on the use of statistical data and surveys
• The observation and interviews workshop
• The use of the photograph and video workshop

Attending the method workshops covers several study modules. One prepares himself/herself for the method workshops via the material and one’s own planning stage at the time. All the workshops are important. Even if you carry out your thesis with a descriptive approach, in your future work there will certainly be situations when you must be able to read, interpret and even compile tables and such.

To master the development and research methods is one of the thesis work evaluation criteria.

Thus it is possible to produce documented entireties which form a part of the future thesis. It is possible to document and report the process and its results in several ways (e.g. an abstract, a poster, an article).

Collaborative writing can be applied at different stages of the process. This can mean the students writing together but also the project workers and working life partners and the Diak staff participating in the writing. The thesis report must be written by the student, however.

Seminar work and thesis guidance

Thesis process guidance is group-based and it takes place either in the thesis seminars or in the PROD/Community Workshops.

TABLE 3. Entireties which are presented and opposed in the thesis seminar or the PROD/Community Workshop  

At least two lectures are responsible for the thesis process. One of them is nominated as the thesis supervisor. The thesis supervisor is nominated at the RES1 phase at the latest. The other lecturer in the same thesis seminar or PROD/Community Workshop will act as an examiner/referee of the thesis. It is possible to diverge from this if the supervision requires the kind of expertise (e.g. kindergarten teacher qualification or ecclesiastical qualification) that the supervisors in the seminar or PROD or Community Workshop do not have.

In the meetings, the students oppose each other’s thesis plans and theses about to be completed. In these situations the opponent acts as the chair. Presenting one’s own work and receiving and giving feedback are a central part of the thesis work process. They are part of professional practice and are linked with the thesis work evaluation criteria.

Both the supervisor and the examiner of the thesis work comment at all the phases presented in Table 3. The thesis is evaluated by the supervisor and the examiner together.

To participate in the seminars requires that one is active: one must familiarize oneself with the works of the other students in advance and be prepared to comment on them. At best, the seminar is a dialogue where the students take responsibility for the progress of each other’s  work. The students have a lot to give in seminar work, and in a well-organized seminar, this potential is of use to everybody. 

The representatives of working life and project work participating in the seminars is to be hoped for. Seminar meetings can also be arranged outside the premises of the learning institution, for example, on the premises of a cooperation partner. A practical requisite for this is often that the same topic involves several theses, all of which can be dealt with at the same time. To arrange seminar meetings outside DIAK is at the discretion of the supervising teacher.

When the student needs a research permit for his/her thesis work, the thesis work plan is quintessential. It is possible that the student will have to expand on the preliminary thesis plan, if, for example, it is required by the organization issuing the research permit.   

The student cannot proceed to the execution process of the thesis work (e.g. carrying out the interviews or other data collection or implementing workshops in cooperation) before the supervising teacher of the thesis work has approved the thesis plan.

For research permits, applying for them and the ethical questions in the subject area, see the article Ethical principles in exploratory and developmental work in this publication

Support of information specialists

Information specialists are responsible for the teaching of information retrieval and guidance. Skills in information retrieval and use of sources are needed at different stages of the thesis work process. These are linked with the content and learning tasks of the Tools for the development work of the professional field I and II and Development and innovation action I. They also support the other studies.

The maturity test is on one’s own thesis work. Even if the thesis is written as pair or group work, each student is to write his/her own maturity test.

For the maturity test, see a separate set of instructions.

The utilization of the thesis work process and its results and the evaluation of the thesis

The thesis is a public document. Its publication and exceptions from the publicity of the thesis and its parts is regulated not only by Finnish legislation but also by the DIAK degree regulations and other DIAK instructions.

To publish the thesis work means two things. The thesis is published by presenting the process and its results to the supervising teacher and the other students (see below). On the other hand, to publish the thesis work refers to the publication of the thesis to a larger audience in an electronic data base.

The publication event of the thesis is arranged either on the premises of the learning institution or, for example, on the premises of the cooperation partner of DIAK. DIAK has schedules for the publication of the theses. However, one can diverge from them on the strength of a decision of the supervising teacher. Such situations include, for example, the publication of the thesis at an event of the cooperation partner or in a conference on the subject area of the thesis.

When the thesis work is published on the DIAK premises in the meeting of the thesis seminar or in a separate publication seminar, both the supervising teacher and the peer opponent give their feedback on the occasion in question. The student will get the comments by the examiner on the occasions or via e-mail, for example.

The forum of publication for the thesis work must be chosen in such a way that it supports, in the best possible way, the utilizability of the thesis and is part of the working life oriented process. If the thesis work is published at an event by the cooperation partner or in a conference, for example, the supervising teacher and the peer opponent convey their feedback to the author in a written form.

Diaconia University of Applied Sciences files one printed copy of the thesis report, and the report is published in an electronic form. There are exceptions concerning the publication of the thesis, which can be found in the Degree Regulations. The thesis work is evaluated according to the DIAK evaluation criteria. A student not satisfied with the evaluation can ask for a rectification of the evaluation (Degree Regulations Sect. 28). The student is to check the current regulations on the evaluation and publication of the thesis in the Diak degree regulations and other instructions.

• Carefully familiarise yourself with the work.
• Referring to the assessment criteria, give constructive, honest feedback concerning the work.
• Prepare questions relating to the thesis to learn about the authors' conversancy with their subject matter.
• Bring up the pros and cons of the thesis; stimulate discussion.
• Chair the seminar session.
• Present your own assessment of the thesis and the authors' activity during the seminar sessions.