Grading criteria master thesis Janicke Rasmussen Dean MSc and course coordinator Master Thesis  My name is Janicke Rasmussen, and I’m the dean for MSc, as well as the course coordinator for Master thesis The purpose of this presentation is to give an overview of the grading criteria for each of the three master thesis deliveries, as well as some general input and practicalities regarding the grading of the master thesis.

General information All deliveries are graded by supervisor Not process evaluation anymore  separate exam codes: Thesis Proposal: pass/fail Preliminary Thesis report: pass/fail Final thesis: Counts 100% - letter grade A-F Common grading criteria is developed for each element - specific criteria need to be specified by each AD/AC Grading criteria developed by the Dean and AD/AC’s First, some general information: All three deliveries in the thesis process are graded by supervisor – for the final thesis also by an external grader. There are now separate exam codes, where the first two elements are pass/fail, and the final thesis counts for 100% Since this no longer is a process evaluation, the final thesis is graded with letter grades A-F The grading criteria developed are the ones that are common for all programme. As you will see, in addition there may be additional programme specific criteria The grading criteria have been developed by the ADs/ACs and the Dean at MSc, across all programmes

Thesis Proposal – Grading criteria In order to pass the TP, each of the following elements must be included: Identification of a specific and relevant problem/question to be investigated: What do you want to investigate? Why this is relevant and why does it interest you? A list of some of the relevant references for your topic A brief description of the research method with a tentative plan for data collection A plan for the thesis process (including plan for supervision)   There may be different views on the relative importance across the four different elements listed above, or the specific content/scope within each element of a TP depending on your major / MSc programme. This also relate to the overall expected length of the document, varying from 2-3 to 4-5 pages. Consult with your supervisor before you submit your TP to ensure that you meet the existing expectations within your field of study. Your supervisor will evaluate the submitted TP. This is the grading criteria for Thesis Proposal, which is handed in June 1st in the 2nd semester. We encourage the students to have met with their supervisor before that time, but it is no requirement. This is a minimum, across programmes. In addition, as you can see in the last paragraph, there may be differences between the programmes. The students are referred to you for further specifications, which also will be presented for them in the thesis seminars. Your responsibility is to stay in dialogue with the AD/AC, to make sure the students across the programmes get the same guidelines.

Preliminary Thesis Report – Grading criteria To pass the preliminary thesis report, the supervisor evaluates whether you are likely to submit a sufficient final master thesis by 1 July. The evaluation is based on minimum the following elements:   An introduction with a clear research question/problem A literature review The research methodology/design A feasible plan for data collection and analyses, that also complies with legal and ethical regulations - NSD Please consult your supervisor/Associate Dean/Academic coordinator to identify if other specific criteria regarding the content of your preliminary master thesis report apply within your programme/major, which also will be evaluated. This is the grading criteria for Preliminary Thesis Report, handed in January 15th in the 3rd semester. Same as for the Thesis Proposal, there are requirements across programmes, but there may also be programme specific criteria. Make sure you stay updated. The main criteria here is «whether you are likely to submit a sufficient final master thesis by 1 July”. That is of course a subjective criteria, but with your experience and based on the elements required, we believe this will be rather straight forward. Worth noting: if the students fail their Preliminary Thesis Report, they won’t be able to deliver their final thesis until December 1st.

Final thesis - Grading criteria Learning goals Subskills 1. Students are able to identify and formulate academic topics and problems in the programme area identify, and argue for, a specific and relevant problem/question formulate problem/question use subject-specific terminology & concepts review and discuss academic literature 2.) Students are able to critically investigate theoretical approaches and methods and to select, justify, and apply an analytical framework that is adequate to the specific research question select, justify and apply research design and methods evaluate data quality analyze and interpret data draw conclusions from data and results 3.) Students are able to write and present a master’s thesis that meets the general academic standards of the study discipline organize and carry out the research process develop clear, logical and consistent structure develop a logical, understandable, and structured line of argumentation use correct language, terminology, formatting, citation rules and format 4.) Overall assessment level of difficulty, originality and quality of the research / investigation overall academic rigour per programme/major implications (theoretical, practical and social) per programme/major F E D C B A Not sufficient Satisfactory Sufficient Good Very good Excellent These are the grading criteria for the Final Thesis. They consist of 4 learning goals, with subskills. They are not weighted, but covers the elements that need to be considered. The students have been presented for the criteria from their first thesis seminar in the first year. In addition to being mere grading criteria, these can also assist in two other processes: Justification of grades – this can serve as your notes when students ask for feedback AoL – we use the same criteria for measuring the AoL – two processes done in one.

In DigiEx 1:2 Over to the practicalities: When you are to grade, you will find the grading criteria as an pdf in DigiEx, under «evaluation guidelines»

In DigiEx 2:2 The score sheet (2 pages) will look like this, with instructions at the top. It is a pdf, so you can either use checkmarks in Acrobat to score, or print it and score manually by pen.

Grading and AoL simultaneously – how to do it? Open the grading criteria under «evaluation guideline» in DigiEx «Score» the student(s) on the sheet – mark each element (electronically in Acrobat or manually by print and pen) Save the score card for yourself – may be useful for justification of grade Put the filled-in score cards (or copies) in an internal post envelope – send to Pia Danielsen – B3i To give it to you with a tea spoon, step-by-step. Once you are done, you need to send one copy to Pia Danielsen, and by that the AoL scoring is also done. If you have any questions or input regarding the grading criteria, or the thesis process, please get in touch with me and we can have a chat. Nothing is ever finished, but after many years, I believe we have come a long way in assuring the quality of the master thesis at BI.