Maturity test (0cr)

Objective

The maturity test for the master's degree is usually a supervised essay-type analytical writing that is written on the topic of the thesis. In the maturity test, one responds to questions provided by the supervisor and writes an essay-type text on the subject. The questions are directly related to the topic of the thesis. The length of the maturity test is approximately 400 words, and there are four hours allotted for writing.
The examiners of the maturity test are the main supervisor of the thesis and, if the language of the student’s educational background is Finnish or Swedish and the language of the maturity test has not been checked at the bachelor's level, a language examiner.
If the language of the maturity test doesn’t need to be checked, one can present the maturity test alternatively as a review, a blog post, or a small-scale article if desired. The completion of the maturity test must be agreed upon with the thesis supervisor beforehand. The evaluation of the maturity test is done within four weeks.
The maturity test can be written in a language other than that of the thesis, if the language of student’s educational background is different from Finnish or Swedish, or if the education was obtained abroad. If the maturity test is written in a language other than Finnish or Swedish, the examiners will only evaluate the content of the maturity test.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

CONTENT EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Pass: The student understands the content and topic of their thesis well.
Fail: The student understands the content and topic of their thesis poorly.

LANGUAGE EVALUATION CRITERIA (University of Lapland, Language Center. Language is evaluated only if the language of the student’s educational background is Finnish or Swedish, and the language of the maturity test has not been checked at the bachelor's level, and the maturity test is written in Finnish or Swedish):
The language of the maturity test must meet the following minimum requirements:
The text should be structured and coherent, with a clear title and well-defined paragraph breaks (subheadings are not necessary).
Basic aspects of spelling and punctuation must be mastered.
The relationships between sentences, clauses, and paragraphs must be expressed clearly. Serious referencing errors should not occur.
Word order should not hinder the understanding of the text.
The style should be formal.
The language examiner must be able to understand the text. The writer should not assume that the reader is familiar with the completed thesis.
The language of the maturity test is accepted even if there are minor language problems. However, the maturity test is rejected

• if the above-mentioned minimum requirements are not met
• if there are several different individual errors in the text
• if the text is too short or too long
• if the handwritten text is entirely in capital letters.
A passed maturity test does not receive a grade, but the language can be characterized as follows:
• no noteworthy issues
• very few shortcomings
• some shortcomings.
If the language of your maturity test is rejected, contact the language examiner to receive feedback on the language aspect of your maturity test.
Even with an accepted language, you can receive feedback during the language examiner's office hours.