The student cannot start the actual thesis process until after the Thesis Plan has been approved. The essential thing at this stage of the thesis process is the student’s own contribution and systematic approach to the project.
At the early stages of the thesis process, it is also possible to arrange a start-up meeting, attended by the student, the supervisor of the thesis, and a representative of the commissioner. The aim of the meeting is to make sure that all the parties have understood the implementation of the thesis in the same way and that all essential matters have been included in the Thesis Plan. Important matters to be agreed on in advance include the compensation for expenses and rewards, as well as matters related to confidentiality, copyright, and updates, which are also mentioned in the Thesis Agreement (Appendix 2). In addition, it is important to agree on the management, storage, deletion and archiving of the data.
Thesis writing includes numerous stages and problem-solving challenges. The student is the responsible owner of this learning process. The student is responsible for making sure the thesis meets the commissioner’s requirements and that also the research-related assessment criteria are met as well as possible (Appendix 6). When defining the content of the thesis, the student is advised to have an instructor assigned by the commissioner as support. The supervising teacher supports the thesis process as a whole and provides supervision in matters related to research methods.
The systematic use of supervision is essential for the progress of the thesis. The aim is that the supervising teacher and the student discuss the progress of the development project at regular intervals. The student seeks individual supervision as early as the idea stage of the thesis project. The student books a supervision appointment with the teacher on their own initiative.
At individual supervisor appointments, the student raises problems and alternative solutions related to their work they want to discuss with their supervisor. Thesis supervision includes commenting and guiding, and is aimed at clarifying the student’s own views. Thesis supervision is not aimed at making detailed corrections or doing things for the student. The teacher gives their views on aspects such as the structure of the thesis, problem setting, and the methods. In the last resort, the student decides themselves on the choices made.
If necessary, also group supervisory appointments may be arranged, for example, if several students have a topic of the same kind. Group supervisory appointments involve the application of courses to the thesis, discussing problems related to the thesis process and searching for alternative solutions to them. Students can bring their own hints to group supervisory appointments, e.g., literature or talk about practices they have found to be good.
The Master student has the leading role at the meetings related to their thesis process. Consequently, the student must be prepared to actively report on what they have produced and to ask questions about matters on which they wish the supervisor to take a stand.