Professional essay (4cr)

Objective

Students will learn to write an essay on a topic relevant to their professional field. They will have command over basic skills in academic writing, e.g. use of literature and referencing.

Content

- Choosing a topic and defining the scope of the work
- Obtaining relevant information from various sources
- Standards for factual writing
- Writing essays
- Presentations and acting as an opponent

Qualifications

Major part of the first year courses of the degree programme. Workshop related to sector studies.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Grade 1-2:
Students have basic skills in academic writing, e.g. use of literature and referencing. Students are able to write an essay on a topic relevant to their professional field. Studets participate in all forms of learning.
Grade 3-4:
Students are able to define the scope of their essay to make it meaningful from the perspective of professional practice. They are able to independently seek literature on the topic and have good command over basic academic writing, e.g. use of literature and referencing. They follow common standards for factual writing. Students are able to write a structured and logical essay based on theoretical knowledge. They are able to integrate literature and their own reflective thinking.
Grade 5:
Students are able to justify their choice and scope of topic and they have good command over factual writing standards. They write fluidly, combining literature and personal reflection in a structured and logical manner. Students are capable of seeking information from a great variety of sources and of critically evaluating the theoretical knowledge. Studets reflections of the topic are deep and critical.

Materials

The study material for the course is in Finnish and located online at: http://intra

Teaching methods

Introductory lectures, writing an essay for professional purposes, individual and group counselling, discussions about essays in small groups, acting as a peer reader and opponent. The Moodle online learning environment will be used.

Further information

R&D -study course.