Master’s Thesis: Assessment
The assessment process of the master’s thesis begins when the student sends the thesis together with the appendices to his/her thesis tutor through the URKUND System a minimum of four weeks before the meeting of the thesis work group. In practice, the student sends a message to the Urkund address (firstname.lastname.jamk@analysis.urkund.com) of the thesis tutor, and attaches the thesis and its appendices to the message.
In the academic year 2011-2012, the dates of the thesis work group meetings can be found at
The Urkund System checks the text of the thesis against the material published in the Internet, i.e. hundreds of millions of books and other documents, to detect any similarities. The aim is to prevent plagiarism. Urkund takes about 24 hours to check the text, after which it sends the original thesis and a report on the findings to the thesis tutor. The student cannot access the report. It goes direct to the thesis tutor and, if necessary, the student can ask him/her about it. More information on how to use Urkund is available under the topic "Instructions for IT systems" in the Study Forum Workspace at Optima.
After this, the thesis tutor and a co-examiner assess the master's thesis on the basis of JAMK's general assessment criteria. The units (schools) may also have their own, specified instructions concerning the assessment of the master’s thesis.
The assessment of the master’s thesis is based on both the process and the results. The assessment focuses on the following:
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choice of the topic and approach
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theoretical approaches for the thesis
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realization of the thesis work
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results and conclusions
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reporting
Assesment criteria for Master's Theses at JAMK (pdf)
Grading Scale
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5 (Excellent)
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4 (Very Good)
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3 (Good)
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2 (Satisfactory)
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1 (Sufficient)
If the thesis generates new professional knowledge, it is regarded as a merit. The student always writes a self-evaluation on the thesis, and the thesis is also evaluated by a fellow student (peer evaluation). If the thesis is an assignment from a company/organisation, it is evaluated by a representative of the company/organisation concerned.
The thesis tutor and co-examiner evaluate the thesis independently, but they draw up one written statement based on their evaluations. The peer evaluation and the possible evaluation of the company/organisation representative are also taken into consideration. The statement shall report any differences of opinions between the evaluators concerning the quality of the thesis. The statement is given to both the student(s) and the members of the master's thesis work group. At the end of the statement the evaluators make a joint grade proposal.
The final assessment of the master’s thesis takes place in a meeting of the master's thesis work group of the concerned. The thesis work group assesses the thesis and, based on the evaluation statement, decides on the final grade. If the student is dissatisfied with the assessment, he/she has the right to appeal against the decision of the thesis work group in accordance with Section 20 (Appeal against Assessment) of JAMK’s Degree Regulations. The first step in the process is to submit a request for assessment review to the thesis work group, which made the final decision on the grade. For further steps, see Section 20 in JAMK’s Degree Regulations.