How to write a Master's thesis - A learning pathway written report skills at the Faculty of Engineering Science at KU Leuven

Conference topic: Education & Student Development / Curriculum Design & Evaluation Key words: written report skills, learning pathway, didactic training, master’s thesisThis paper describes the learning pathway written report skills at the Faculty of Engineering Science at KU Leuven. First, the state of affairs of written report skills, Bachelor’s graduates should have obtained during the curriculum. The next section outlines the position of the Master’s thesis in the engineering curriculum. Furthermore, the three workshops organized by the Faculty are illustrated. Likewise, the Teaching Assistants also get a training to guide the Master’s thesis. Finally, conclusions, discussions and future work is outlined. The Master’s thesis is considered as an essential part of the academically oriented engineering program. It gives the students the opportunity to show both their competences to do scientific research as well as to report their results. The learning pathway is designed within the structure of a five-year engineering program, containing two Bachelor’s programs and fourteen Master’s programs, with more than 3,000 students enrolled. The focus of this paper lays on the last phase of the learning pathway when students are asked to report on their research by writing a Master’s thesis. There is a slight overlap with the learning pathway Problem-solving and Design, where students work in groups up to eight persons. One of the aspects of the Problem-solving and Design courses is the research report. The faculty organizes three workshops, aimed at guiding the students, convincing them that not only the research forms an important part of the course. The first workshop, Information Literacy, is organized in corporation with the Campus Library. During a two-hour session, students are encouraged in an interactive way to explore their Master’s thesis topic and try to find references. The second workshop, Intellectual Integrity and Plagiarism, lays focus on the ethical side of plagiarism and why you should quote or refer. The third Master’s thesis workshop, Academic Writing, emphasizes two aspects of the Master’s thesis: an academic writing style and the structure of the Master’s thesis. The role of the Master’s thesis advisor and mentor must not be neglected. Therefore, the Faculty of Engineering Science provides a workshop during the Starters Week of Engineering and Education: Training for TAs (SWEET²). The Teaching Assistants receive information about guiding a Master’s thesis and giving feedback on the written reports of their students. The main aim of the learning pathway written report skills is to provide students with decent working tools and guidance throughout the whole Master’s thesis project. In bringing together all the efforts throughout the whole curriculum, academic success should improve.status: publishe