Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of the course student is able to (1) develop a thesis plan relevant to their thesis topic and MA programme, (2) demonstrate familiarity with information retrieval, academic writing, research ethics and other issues relevant to carrying out their MA thesis, (3) comprehend and apply in their thesis process the contents of the Master's Thesis Guide of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, including aims, planning, and process for completing MA thesis, and the thesis evaluation criteria.

Credits: 2

Schedule: 06.09.2021 - 10.09.2021

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Heidi Paavilainen

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

University lecturer Heidi Paavilainen (heidi.paavilainen@aalto.fi)
Heidi has a long academic career in the Department, starting with BA+MA in Textile design and PhD in Industrial design. Her doctoral research was about “domestication of design”, that is, how it feels like to live with designed products and garments, and why people bother to do it as it takes quite a lot of work to have design in home. Majority of her time goes to teaching, tutoring and educational leadership but what she can spare, she spends on research about “domestication of recycled stuff”, aiming to contribute to the general field of circular economy with a user point of view. Heidi speaks Finnish and English.

University lecturer Namkyu Chun (namkyu.chun@aalto.fi)
Through his multicultural (from East Asia to North/South Americas and Nordic Europe) and cross-disciplinary (from fashion design/merchandising, journalism, non-profit fundraising and design consulting) experiences, Namkyu has been interested in critically engaging with discourses on design practice while questioning the social role of design(ers). His relationship with Aalto community began in 2014 as a doctoral candidate. Since the completion of his doctoral studies in 2018, he got more involvements in numerous teaching and educational development activities, such as the MA Thesis Journey project. As a practitioner who has more recently become a researcher/teacher, Namkyu can help navigate challenges as a peer with handy exercises. Currently, Namkyu is working as a lecturer, focusing on the ways of communicating the value of design. Namkyu speaks Korean and English.

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The course informs and reminds students about and supports applying in the thesis their learnings in research methods, information retrieval, academic writing, research ethics, written and oral communication, project management and department thesis completion process. Working methods: lectures (100% attentance requirement), pre- and in-class assignments. Alternatively student can independently study and work with assignments and then take an electric exam in specified times.

• applies in this implementation

  Assignments, zoom-sessions and online materials in MyCourses support students to

  1. Realise where their interests lie and how to develop successful thesis plan based on their interests, learning objectives and resources;
  2. How to write compact, actionable, realistic and informative thesis plan in clear language that follows  Department’s academic styles;
  3. Understand and prepare for the entire thesis process with its different options and requirements.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Doing the course by attending in contact teaching: Pre- and in-course assignments, with 100% participation requirement. Doing the course independently: exam based on assignments

• applies in this implementation

  TPO, lecture (intensive) is evaluated based on pre-assignments and in-class assignments. All assignments are evaluated with grading scale Failed - New revision needed - Passed - Passed with distinction. Grade depends on how well assignment follows instructions. For example, if some required part is missing, assignment is graded with “New revision needed”. The better assignment meets instructions, the higher its grade. Notice that even though students may submit several assignments to one “submission box”, each assignment is graded separately.

  If assignment is graded with Failed or New revision needed, student can revise the assignment and resubmit via MyCourses until September 17.

  The TPO course is evaluated with grade 0-5. Course grade is calculated based on final assignment grades as follows:

  • 1-8 Fail: Course grade 0 (irrespective of how assignments are doing otherwise)
    
  • 3-4 Revise: Course grade 1 (irrespective of how assignments are doing otherwise)
    
  • 1-2 Revise: Course grade 2 (irrespective of how assignments are doing otherwise)
    
  • 0-1 Distinction: Course grade 3 (provided there're no grounds for lower grade)
    
  • 2-4 Distinction: Course grade 4 (provided there're no grounds for lower grade)
    
  • 5-8 Distinction: Course grade 5 (provided there're no grounds for lower grade)
    

   How to learn about your performance and grading: Assignments are graded in MyCourses, with written feedback and comments when reasonable. If more information is needed, student should email teacher in charge of the course.

  
  

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  2ECTS is a 54hour workload

  • Contact teaching 15h or 0h (remote option)
  • Independent studying 28h or 43h (remote option, including exam 2h)
  • Personal reflection and self-assessment 10h
  • Course feedback 1h

• applies in this implementation

  Contact teaching 15 hours = 6 zoom sessions during orientation week: 3 x 3h and 3 x 2h.
  Independent studying 28 hours = working with 4 pre-assignments (roughly 5h each) and finishing of 4 in-class assignments (roughly 2h each)
  Personal reflection and self-assessment 10 hours = internalisation and reflection based on course contents. This crucial phase of learning and development takes place in student’s own time.
  Course feedback 1 hour = feedback that student gives about the course via Webropol survey and directly to the teachers in class.
  

DETAILS

Study Material

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The Master's Thesis Guide of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Additional materials are listed in course syllabus and available in MyCourses

• applies in this implementation

  In addition to The Master’s Thesis Guide of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture there are no required readings. Some useful books, articles and other resources are listed in the MyCourses "Materials" section. In addition, out of all the hundreds of thesis guidebooks we want to highlight one that comes surprisingly close to what ARTS MA students are doing: 

  Gruba, P., & Zobel, J. (2017). How to write your first thesis. Springer. Available as a free download in Aalto Primo for Aalto students. Practically speaking the same book has been published as How to write a better minor thesis, 2014.

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Period:

  2020-2021 Summer (contact teaching), Autumn I - Spring V (remote study option)

  2021-2022 Summer (contact teaching), Autumn I - Spring V (remote study option)

  Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=MUO-E0011

  Registration for Courses: Sisu replaces Oodi on 9 August, 2021. Priority order to courses is according to the order of priority decided by the Academic committee for School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/registering-to-courses-and-the-order-of-priority-in-aalto-arts

  WebOodi

Details on the schedule

• applies in this implementation

  MyCourses, Friday August 27
  Deadline to submit pre-assignments if you want to guarantee feedback for your pre-assignments.
  

  Zoom, Monday September 6
  9:15-12 Positioning yourself and your thesis in the field of design (Namkyu & Heidi)
  13-15 Getting your thesis done without going bonkers (Heidi & Namkyu)

  Tuesday September 7
  Independent studying + optional zoom tutoring session with teacher about your thesis plans

  Zoom, Wednesday September 8
  9:15-12 Elements of a good thesis plan (Heidi & Namkyu)
  13-15 Academic language (Eeva Berglund)

  Thursday September 9
  Independent studying + optional zoom tutoring session with teacher about your thesis plans

  Zoom, Friday September 10
  9:15-12 Talks and Q&A panel with recent graduates (Namkyu & graduates)
  13-15 Advanced elements of a good thesis plan (Namkyu & Heidi)

  MyCourses, Friday September 17
  Deadline to submit any revised, failed or missing assignments for the TPO intensive. This deadline is definite. No exceptions.

  
  

Description