Study Guide

Descriptions

Master School of Turku University of Applied Sciences prepares the students to work as experts and leaders for advanced expert roles and reformers of working life. The Master’s degree opens the doors to new career development and provides Finland with more competitive knowledge. Master School Education is divided into two paths: the Leadership Excellence path develops people to become superiors or leaders and the Professional Excellence path for expert level tasks that require advanced knowledge.

The Master's Degree Programme in HEALTH PROMOTION is part of the Professional path. The School of Professional Excellence focuses on developing the skills and competences needed as a specialist in the selected discipline. During the studies, students can focus on the challenges in their own field and on the future environments. After graduation, the student has developed and reformed working life, has created new networks and is prepared to operate in demanding expert and development tasks.

The main tuition language is Finnish. The studies are also conducted in English and learning materials written in English are being used as well. The student has an opportunity to participate in research, development and innovation projects (RDI) in which the working language is English.

The Master’s degree composes of core competences, complementary competences and Master’s thesis. Part of the mandatory core competence studies are common for all Professional programs and part are specific for Health Promotion. Complementary competence studies include elective studies that can be taken freely from the other Turku UAS Master’s programs or from the Masters’ programs of other universities. In most cases, the Master’s thesis is done as a working life related development project.

The extent of the study programme is 90 ECTS.
The studies are composed of:
• Compulsory core competences 40 ECTS
• Elective complementary competences 20 ECTS
• Master’s thesis 30 ECTS.

The studies include e-learning, independent work and contact sessions. The contact sessions are arranged once a month (via Zoom or TEAMS) during one or two days on average. However, there can be more contact days due to the individual course selections. The contact sessions consist of counselling, expert lectures and seminar work. The planned length of the studies is two (2) years.

The Master's thesis solves a topical issue or problem related to working life. The topic of the thesis may be related to the development of a new product, service or process, for example. The thesis is carried out as a commission in research, development and innovation projects (RDI) of working life or Turku UAS. You can also acquire the topic from a variety of professional networks, third sector, well-being services counties or national research institutes. The thesis is done individually or in pairs. The completion of the thesis requires the ability to work independently and in expert work. In accordance with the tripartite model, the work is carried out in cooperation between the student, the teacher tutor and the working life mentor/contact person throughout the education. As a rule, the guidance is implemented as group guidance in ways agreed with the supervisor/teacher tutor of the thesis.

A graduated student can work/act in different national or international expert tasks, development and management tasks as well as in teaching tasks. The assignments can be in demanding expert tasks, planning tasks and developing tasks, projects which are related to health and welfare and to work in different the health coordinator's and welfare coordinator's tasks

A Master’s degree awarded by a university of applied sciences provides the same eligibility for public posts as an university degree. The education provides general competences in management and development tasks. In the social and health sector, besides the general eligibility conditions, there are also sector-specific regulations for eligibility for management positions. Extensive development and expertise in the field makes national and international mobility possible. The education follows the European Qualification Framework (EQF) proficiency level descriptions and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) proficiency descriptions. The level corresponding to the university of applied sciences Master’s degree is 7.

Students can apply for courses at other higher education institutions and include these in a degree. Students can also take advantage of CampusOnline's joint online study offer at the polytechnics of Finland. http://campusonline.fi/ Industry participates in the development of education.

As a part of the Health Promotion studies it is possible to take advanced Occupational Health Care studies which are implemented in the cooperation with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and together with a national network of universities and universities of applied sciences and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. It is possible to complete these studies also as smaller elective study modules.

Objective

After completing the program, the student is able to:
- evaluate the efficacy and outcomes of health promotion activities
- understand both the value base and knowledge base of health promotion
- use health promotion methods fluently
- plan, develop and lead the implementation of health promotion measures
- evaluate own competencies and develop these to respond for to the changes of the operating environment

Development

From a pedagogical perspective, teaching is based on a socio-cultural learning concept and on innovation-boosting learning and development practices by using innovation pedagogy. The students are encouraged to engage in active, critical thinking, to deepen their field-specific competence and to systematically build their fundamental knowledge of development. It is possible to complete the studies while working full-time. On average there are two contact days in a month. Teaching is carried out utilising innovative teaching and learning methods (Innopeda). The studies contain both contact and distance learning. Part of the studies are conducted online and in multidisciplinary environments. The studies include independent work and working in multidisciplinary teams. The development tasks from the working life are utilised.

Further information

The objectives for skills levels in a Master’s Degree are based on the legislation on universities of applied sciences and the European Qualification Framework (EQF). The level corresponding to a Master’s degree is level 7. Assessment focuses on competence and its development. The assessment criteria for each course are described in its implementation plan. The course assessment methods vary according to the objectives of the study module. Assessment may focus on the outcome (for instance, a report or a seminar presentation), on the process (the student’s own activity and actions during the course) or on both. Students receive regular feedback on their performance from their teachers. Peer- and self-assessment as well as client company feedback on performance are also utilised. The degree assessment framework is used as the basis for the assessment. The prerequisite for the approval of the study module is completing the parts which belong to it according to the curriculum. The studies that have been passed are graded on a scale from 1 to 5 or approved or completed