M30-GLA Masteroppgave

Knowledge:

The student will have acquired:

• advanced theoretical, methodological, and empirical societal/natural scientific knowledge concerning the thesis’ specific field of practice or academic scholarship,
• knowledge of history and state-of-the-art of the discipline’s work within the thesis’ field of practice or academic scholarship.

Skills:

The student will have acquired advanced skills in:

• formulating relevant research questions and design goals with societal and cultural relevance and significance,
• pursuing a research process and a design/planning process systematically - from the theoretical/conceptual anchoring of a question, via the choice and use of relevant methods of investigation, to an overall design concept that can be related to an analysis of the problem at hand to the best concrete design/planning measures, a sound discussion and conclusion regarding the investigated issue,
• presenting arguments in a comprehensible and efficient way, using visual as well as verbal concepts in a consistent way.

General competences:

The student will have acquired high competence in

• working individually and in groups on implementing a large project,
• gathering various kinds of information from first-hand and secondary sources in a respectful, ethical, and transparent way,
• critically assessing the various kinds of information regarding their relevance and value to the issues/topics of the master’s thesis.

Moreover, the student will have acquired a critical attitude and an advanced level of reflection concerning:

• the connection between theoretical/conceptual perspective, methodological approach, and results/conclusions of an investigation/design accomplishment,
• his/her own contribution to the investigation/design, compared the used sources and references,
• the relation between political goals, academic and disciplinary insights, and traditions,
• the general ethics of professional consultancy work or of academic research,
• the societal role and potential contribution of the landscape architect perspective in handling the kind of task/question that the thesis addresses.

Written thesis and oral defense count 100%. Grade system: A-F.

The master thesis work is concluded with a public oral defence in front of an external examiner. The student(s) will give a 20 minutes’ presentation of the thesis and thereafter engage in a critical dialogue with the external examiner. Prior to the oral defence, supervisor and examiner will have agreed on their evaluation, set an initial grade for the thesis, which may be adjusted after the presentation and oral defence.

The Master Thesis must be presented and have to be submitted in ENGLISH ONLY.