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An effective evaluation of a bachelor's thesis (BT) needs the use of valid tools such as rubrics. There are few studies providing a validation of rubrics for these theses and even fewer in the academic field of food science and technology; hence the aim of this study was to validate a rubric for the assessment of relevant competencies in the BT. Ninety‐seven students presented their thesis and 56 teachers participated as members of the committees. The degree of relevance, suitability, and clarity of the rubrics were assessed as well as the relationship between student perception and academic performance and the congruence between the teacher's and students' evaluations. The content validity index and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. Students had a moderate level of knowledge about rubrics, but they mostly agreed with the premise that the rubrics are an accurate tool to assess the quality of BTs. Teacher's and student's marks mostly aligned. No significant relationship was found between the positive perception of rubric's validity and the final grades. Regarding clarity, suitability, and relevance as perceived by teachers, the used rubrics were highly valued. The ICC of criteria indicated that the rubrics were valid in the studied terms. Hence, the validation of a food science and technology degree BT assessment system based on a rubric has been achieved. Supporting Information Practical Application: The conclusions drawn from this research could enable teachers at other universities to use this methodology for validating their rubrics for bachelor's theses. Furthermore, they could use this validated rubric to evaluate projects presented at their respective institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students are generally required to demonstrate diverse skills when writing their bachelor thesis. Accordingly, examiners are expected to consider all these skills when assessing the thesis, regularly with one overall grade. In this study, we examine which criteria of a rubric contribute most to the overall assessment. The study is performed through quantitative analyses of 318 theses of undergraduate biology students. The analyses demonstrate that all criteria scores are predictive, but that scientific quality and professional attitude give the best prediction of thesis grade, together with structure. The predictiveness of scientific quality and professional attitude correspond with the instructions given to examiners that these are important criteria to consider. Presentation-related criteria scores on writing skills and expressing catchy and justifying titles give the lowest prediction of grade. This study identifies that some criteria appear more predictive for low grades than for high grades, with professional attitude being a good predictor for low grades and abstract being a good predictor for high grades. We recommend similar analyses for students to help them prioritise the most relevant criteria, for supervisors to instruct students on these criteria, and for education managers to evaluate whether bachelor theses are assessed on the criteria they find most relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the systematic literature review process is extensive, but a justified explanation of how a narrative literature review process progresses remains absent from the existing literature. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding about the narrative literature review process. By building on process theory and the literature on systematic literature reviews and by empirically examining the literature review processes for bachelor's theses in a European business school, we reveal that a narrative literature process is iterative, non-structured and multi-layered; contains several cumulative written outcomes; and is embedded in a social context wherein various official and non-official actors guide and support the beginning researcher. This study is a fresh attempt to explain the progress of a literature review process with help of process theory, thereby offering novel insights into the research on literature reviews in general and on narrative literature reviews across various fields of human sciences specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the challenges in supporting and assessing action research projects related to bachelor's theses for research-based initial teacher education in Norway. The data consist of two types of texts – the official information about the bachelor's thesis from the university and 10 theses where the students complained about the assessment. The results are considered by using a theoretical framework of assessment as a process of communication and by applying the concept of boundary crossing. The results show the lack of communication and tripartite collaboration among students, practicum teachers and university teachers as presupposed. Communication and democratic dialogue are crucial elements of action research, and the findings suggest that the assessment process should focus on 'feedforward' in an open dialogue more than 'feedback' through written texts or marks. Our research findings add to the knowledge on the design of research-based programmes of study in general and assignments based on action research in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The making of thesis proposal is not easy to do. The main obstacle is the difficulty of finding the literature in the appropriate journal form. This problem becomes important, because it will affect the continuity regarding the study period of students, and it will affect the college and future students concern as well. Therefore, a learning model that is oriented to review the journal as the main activity needs to be applied, while the appropriate model is Research based learning. Thus optimization of journal review on the learning activities can assist students in completing the thesis proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rubric for research theses was developed, based on the manual of the American Psychological Association, to be used as an assessment tool for teachers and students. The aim was to make students aware of what is expected, get familiar with criteria, and interpret teacher and peer feedback. In two studies, it was examined whether students use and value these functions. In the first study, a rubric was provided to 105 Educational Sciences students working on their bachelor’s thesis. Questionnaire data indicated that students did value the rubric for the intended functions, although rubric use was not related to ability. In a panel interview, teachers stated that the number of proficiency levels should be increased to be able to distinguish between good and excellent students adequately, and that a criterion concerning student’s role during supervision should be added. Therefore, in the second study, 11 teachers were interviewed about their motives to give high grades and about the supervision process. This lead to an extra criterion concerning student’s role during supervision and an additional proficiency level to assess excellent performance. It is argued that an adequate course organisation is conditional for the rubric’s effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This article presents and evaluates the results of an educational initiative at the occupational therapy programme at University College Lillebaelt in Denmark. The objectives of the initiative were (A) to establish institutional partnerships between the educational institution and various practice fields and (B) to develop students' competences in practice research and collaboration, thus building up a framework in which research-based change in occupational therapy practice can be pursued through students' practice research. The practice research undertaken in the students' bachelor's projects had a theoretical and methodological foundation in critical psychology. Methods: Four bachelor's cohorts with a total of 29 students participated in the educational initiatives from 2008 to 2011. Nine groups conducted practice research projects, wherein they collaborated both with occupational therapists in the practice field and with citizens, and later drafted written reports and communicated their results Concurrent with this, they received special education and counselling from teaching staff. Results: The initiative was evaluated by analysing focus group interviews, questionnaires and the students' bachelor's theses. Results of the evaluations showed that (A) the developed institutional partnerships promoted the goals of the initiative, including research-based proposals for change in the practice field and that (B) the students acquired competences in practice research and collaboration. Conclusions: On top of what students learned through the initiative, all of this was to the benefit of the university college, the occupational therapy program, and the practice fields and citizens. The results point toward a continuation of the educational initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]