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 in English are used. The student has an opportunity to participate in international 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 programmes and part are specific for Health Promotion. Complementary competence studies include elective studies that can be taken freely from the other TUAS Master’s programmes or from the Masters’ programmes of other universities. In most cases, the Master’s thesis is done as a working life 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 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. Some of the studies are carried out in a national network, which requires the students to travel and cover the travel costs themselves.

The thesis is a development project done in co-operation with working life and in which the student acts as the project manager.
The thesis can be carried out in TUAS research projects, development projects and innovation projects or in the working life environment. Other studies can be connected to the development project when applicable. The thesis is implemented according to the tripartite model. This means collaboration between the student, the teacher tutor and the working life coach throughout the process. The financier also co-operates when necessary. A steering and project team representing a wide range of expertise will be established for the development project to support its implementation.

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 a 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 have the opportunity to complete part of their studies outside Finland at higher education institutions with which Turku University of Applied Sciences has signed a cooperation agreement. Students can also engage in internationalisation by participating in intensive events organised by international networks, as well as in international conferences and projects. Our Master School international seminar, organised once a year, is part of the Master studies. Part of the studies can be implemented in English.

Co-operation with working life organisations and networking are part of the studies. In the RDI projects, the co-operation can also be extended to international universities and to the international working life partners. It is possible for the student to apply for the right to complete JOO-studies (JOO-opinto) at the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Diakonia, Yrkeshögskolan Novia and Humak-University of Applied Sciences. 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. The studies begin at the beginning of the calendar year.

The aim of the research group is to promote leadership, the evaluation and development of the social welfare and health care systems through multidisciplinary expertise. The focus areas are knowledge-based management, customer-focused operational models and new solutions at interfaces, high-quality care and services for the senior citizens, competence and expertise in the renewing and increasingly multicultural operational environment and, additionally, higher education, employment and career paths.

Postgraduate doctoral studies in Finnish and foreign universities under certain conditions.

Objective

After completing the programme, the student is able to:
· foster the basic values and the knowledge base of health promotion.
· apply salutogenesis to his/her work and apply the international and national programmes and strategies of health promotion.
· carry out the evaluation of the health and well-being of the population as well as estimate the effects of environmental health and define future challenges of health promotion locally and internationally
· promote the core contents of profitability and effectiveness in health promotion.
· plan, implement and evaluate customer-oriented services of health promotion and utilise health technology and digital possibilities in his/her work.
· design, develop and lead the know-how of the staff and develop the contents of health promotion and adapt them to the development of the work community.

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.

The advanced professional studies in Health Promotion -education (30 ECTS) are partly carried out as online studies and partly as contact teaching. They are comprised of three modules: Competence in Health Promotion, Innovative Methods in Health Promotion and Health Promotion Management and Development. During the studies, the students will have 1 –3 contact days per month. The contact days are carried out as seminars or conferences depending on the subject

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.