The thesis is presented at a seminar, which may be attended by the representatives of the commissioner, supervising teachers, and other Master students.
At the seminar presentations, the aims of the thesis and the results obtained are focused on. The student also presents the methods used in the thesis. The seminar may also include a demonstration of, for instance, the created product, service, or software. In their presentation, the student is expected to critically assess the merits and the possible targets for improvement of their thesis. The skills and knowledge demonstrated at the presentation are taken into account when defining the overall grade for the thesis.
The thesis is also checked with the Ouriginal anti-plagiarism software. Ouriginal conducts a textual comparison and produces a report, based on which the teacher recognises the possible illegal quotation of sources. If the thesis has non-public parts, it is worth seriously considering the scope of the Ouriginal review, as non-public parts may end up in the knowledge of outsiders. For the procedure of the Ouriginal check and the instruction for the student, visit SeAMK Intra.
Thesis is a public document. In its instructions, the Ministry of Education (Opetusministeriö, 2004) has emphasised that theses defined as confidential based on the law should not be written at all. Yet, with a view to keeping business or professional secrets, it is necessary in some situations to leave some portion of the thesis unpublished. Instructions on the ways of leaving portions of the thesis unpublished are presented in Chapter Publicity, Confidentiality and Copyright.
When the supervisor has given their permission to it, the thesis is uploaded at the Theseus online library. The thesis is only saved in Theseus once if it has been completed as a joint thesis of SeAMK degree programmes. The SeAMK student also saves the thesis in Theseus if it has been completed together with a student from another university of applied sciences or in a double degree. After the thesis has been saved, the supervising teacher assesses it on Peppi. Theseus is the national online library of the Finnish universities of applied sciences, at which their theses and other publications are published. When uploading their thesis in Theseus, the student must approve the terms of use of Theseus. When doing that, the student assures the copyright matters have been attended to and allows their university of applied sciences to publish the thesis at the online repository free of charge. In online publishing, the Creative Commons license system is used, allowing the regulation of the conditions of use of online publications. Creative Commons licensing can be used if the copyright of the thesis lies exclusively with the author. See SeAMK Intra for a more detailed instruction on uploading the thesis in Theseus.
The student shall ensure the accessibility of their thesis and the appendices to it in advance (this concerns appendices in the Appendices section and separate ones, such as a guide, video, or infographics). The templates include instructions on accessibility.
The thesis is converted into a PDF/A file and the file is named as firstname¬_lastname according to the person saving it. If there is more than one author, name the thesis surname_surname_surname.pdf. Appendices external to the thesis are named based on their content. The thesis is saved according to the instruction of Theseus. Save both the Finnish and English abstract in the fields of the form and make sure hyphenation has been turned off and that the division into paragraphs is correct.
The University of Applied Sciences is obliged to always deliver a copy of the thesis to the party requesting it, even if the thesis has been saved in the restricted-use collection (Act on the Openness of Government Activities621/1999).
The Maturity Test of the Master’s Degree. For the Bachelor’s Degree, the student shall take a Maturity Test related to their Thesis, the topic of which is assigned by the supervisor of the Thesis. A Master student is required to take a Maturity Test only in case they have not taken one while completing their previous Degrees. The Maturity Test of the Master Degree can be an essay, a media release, a presentation aimed at working life or an article in a professional journal. Two hours are set aside for writing an essay-form Maturity Test and it is written under the supervision of a teacher or at the EXAM service.
The Maturity Test is written on a topic defined by the supervisor. If the student’s school language is other than Finnish or Swedish, the Head of Programme can agree with the student on the writing of the Test in another language.
The Degree Regulations of Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences include the following instruction on the Maturity Test:
To earn their Degree, the student shall take a Maturity Test at which they write about a topic related to their Final Project/thesis. Its topic is assigned by the supervisor of the Final Project/thesis. At the Maturity Test, the student demonstrates their acquaintance with the topic of their Final Project and their language skills as follows:
A student whose school language is Finnish
The language of the Maturity Test is Finnish, in which case the student earns the grade of ‘Excellent’ in their oral and written skills in the language in question (Valtioneuvoston asetus suomen ja ruotsin kielen taidon osoittamisesta valtionhallinnossa 481/2003, Section 15). The second national language is Swedish.
If the student earned at least the grade of ‘Magna cum laude approbatur’ at the test of Finnish as a native language at their Matriculation Examination (demonstrating excellent knowledge in the language in question), the language of the Maturity Test can also be Swedish or the language of the Degree Programme.
A student whose school language is Swedish
The language of the Maturity Test is Swedish, in which case the student earns the grade of ‘Excellent’ in their oral and written skills in the language in question (Valtioneuvoston asetus suomen ja ruotsin kielen taidon osoittamisesta valtionhallinnossa 481/2003, Section 15). The second national language is Finnish.
If the student has earned the grade of at least ‘Magna cum laude approbatur’ at the test in Swedish as a native language at the Matriculation Examination (demonstrating excellent knowledge in the language in question), the language of the Maturity Test can also be Finnish or the language of the Degree Programme.
A student whose school language is Finnish (Swedish) but whose first language is other than Finnish (Swedish)
If the student’s school language is Finnish (Swedish) but their home or first language is other than Finnish (Swedish), the President of the University of Applied Sciences may exempt the student from the language-related requirements of the Maturity Test. In order to demonstrate their familiarity with the topic of their thesis, the student shall take the Maturity Test, but its language will not be assessed. At the Maturity Test, the student writes in Finnish (Swedish). In consequence of exemption from the language-related requirements of the Maturity Test, a language proficiency clause corresponding to Decree, Valtioneuvoston asetus suomen ja ruotsin kielen taidon osoittamisesta valtionhallinnossa 481/2003, Section 19, will not be included in the student’s Degree Certificate.
A student whose school language is neither Finnish nor Swedish
If the student’s school language is other than Finnish or Swedish, the Head of Programme can agree with the student on taking the Maturity Test in another language.
A student with dyslexia is entitled to special arrangements, if needed. This requires that the student present an expert statement (a dyslexia statement or recommendation) about their situation. If required based on the statement, the student can be allowed a maximum of two hours’ and 40 minutes extra time for writing, and the test can be completed orally. The matter is also taken into account in the thesis process, and the student has the opportunity to get support.
The content of the Maturity Test is assessed by the supervisor and its language is checked by an expert, or a teacher of Finnish or communication. In case the Maturity Test is written in some other language, its language is checked by a teacher of the language in question. The Maturity Test is assessed on a scale of Pass–Fail. The grade Fail must be substantiated to the student.