Entry requirements

120 credits from semester 1-4 of the programme Interaction Design.

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

The course can be included as part of a general degree at undergraduate level.

Course contents

The degree project is where students draw upon the knowledge, skills and values of the education and carry out a major independent scholarly work in the area of interaction design.

The course takes the preliminary research, design activities and framings from Interaction Design: Research Methods as a starting point. As such, students might not be appointed a supervisor if this work is not adequate. Students further develop their project with the assistance of a supervisor, culminating in a written thesis and oral defence.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge & understanding 

After completing the course, students must:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the main field of study, including knowledge of the scientific basis, knowledge of applicable methods in the field, specialization in any part of the field and orientation in current research (1)

Skill & ability 

After completing the course, students must:

• demonstrate the ability to search, collect, evaluate and critically interpret relevant information in a problem and to critically discuss phenomena, issues and situations (2)
• demonstrate an ability to independently identify, formulate and solve problems and to perform tasks within specified time limits (3)
• demonstrate ability to orally and in writing present and discuss information, problems and solutions in dialogue with different groups (4)
• demonstrate the skills required to work independently in the field of study (5)
• demonstrate the ability to write and structure a coherent thesis-length scholarly text in the field of interaction design, including proper referencing, citing and quoting (6)

Judgement & approach 

After completing the course, students must:

• demonstrate the ability in the major field of study to make judgments regarding relevant scientific, social and ethical aspects (7)
• demonstrate insight into the role of knowledge in society and people's responsibility for how it is used (8)
• demonstrate ability to identify their need of further knowledge and to develop their skills (9)

Learning activities

Students are expected to independently plan and carry out a thesis project in the domain of interaction design. The precise milestones, forms of activities and goals can vary depending on the nature of the research question. From the basis of the project work, the student must form and articulate conclusions which are relevant and – at a level appropriate for bachelor study – insightful for interaction design practitioners and/or interaction design researchers. Supervisors will assist with scoping, setting deadlines, providing literature, critical feedback and so on. Supervision can happen in groups or individually depending on the situation. Students will prepare and submit a written thesis (including any supplementary media) which must meet the requirements outlined on the course website. After this, students will orally present and defend their work in a public examination with a designated examiner. The supervisor, other faculty members and students may also participate in discussion with the examinee, at the discretion of the examiner.

Assessment

When grading, the examiner will consider, as a whole, the submitted written thesis (and any supplementary media) and the oral presentation/discussion. There is no assessment weighting between these elements, and the thus there is a single formal examination moment of 22.5 HP which assesses all intended learning outcomes. A grading rubric is used to relate the learning outcomes to interaction design, and this will be published on the course website. Demonstrating all learning outcomes will confer a pass (‘G’), otherwise a fail (‘U’) is conferred. ‘VG’ is conferred for high achievement, as outlined in the rubric. Failure to submit a written work by the review deadline or failure to presentation defend the work orally will mean the student is unable to pass, due to intended learning outcomes #4 and #6.

Course literature

Literature is chosen in consultation with the supervisor.

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.