Study Guide

Descriptions

Objective of the programme

The objective of the degree programme is to develop the models and practices of entrepreneurship in the field of culture. The Master’s Degree Programme in Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship is the first Master’s programme in the fields of arts and culture that specifically focuses on entrepreneurship. The programme gives media and culture professionals the ability to translate their professional core competence into a business.

The programme is part of Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) Master School, and TUAS Arts Academy is responsible for organising it. The programme leads to a Master’s Degree in Culture and Arts.

The programme is targeted at media and culture professionals interested in launching or developing their own businesses. Prior experience of self-employment e.g. as a freelancer provides a good basis for participating in and benefiting from the programme.

The environment in which media and culture professionals operate today is rapidly changing. Technological developments (such as digitalisation), changing cultural contents, evolving perceptions of art and new consumer behaviours all have an impact on culture as a professional field. While employment opportunities in, for example, the traditional media organisations have decreased, new types of opportunities for professional expertise in the creative industries have been simultaneously emerging outside the established media sector and cultural institutions. Experience economy has given rise to hybrids in which media content, art and culture merge with other products or services. Media, art and culture professionals are in demand in new fields such as corporate communications, health and wellness services and even sports and tourism. Multiprofessional collaboration at the interface between different sectors create space for innovations and new business opportunities.

Graduates from the Master’s Degree Programme in Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship are highly networked and innovative team workers with expertise in user and customer-centred development and they are well-positioned to recognise new business opportunities in the changing operating environment and will have the necessary knowledge and tools to establish themselves as entrepreneurs.


Contents of the programme

Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme focuses on developing the students’ entrepreneurial identity and business ideas. A key element in the programme is the development project for the Master’s thesis, which is related to the student’s own business ideas or operations.

The students will accumulate the core competences necessary for business development in the Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship module. The focus of the module will be on 1) building the students’ own entrepreneurial identities and identifying their personal strengths and development needs, 2) analysing and anticipating current and future operating environments and 3) customer and user-centred development of products, services and business concepts as well as the commercialisation of a creative idea.

The students may use elective studies (10 ECTS) to expand their competences in areas and methods relevant to their work. Courses may be selected from the course offerings of TUAS and other higher education institutions. Campus online (https://campusonline.fi/) provides a good selection of online courses by more than twenty Finnish universities of applied sciences. The students may also complete project-based studies for example in the RDI projects at TUAS or as their own working life projects. Each student takes elective studies according to his/her individual learning plan, based on the personal learning objectives.

Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme is part of TUAS Master School. TUAS Master School puts emphasis on multiprofessional and multidisciplinary collaboration and the competences it requires and develops. Students grow into innovative developers of new solutions, capable of working in different operating environments and with various actors. Corporate social responsibility and sustainable development are fundamental themes that run throughout the studies.

Structure of the programme

The Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship Degree Programme (60 ECTS) takes an estimated three terms (1.5 years) to complete. The studies are organised as part-time learning and can, therefore, be completed while working. The curriculum is flexible and the studies can be completed in as little as one year with full-time study. The individual study plan supports the students in planning the timeframe for completing their studies.

The core competences of the degree will be achieved by students in two core modules: Planning for the Future (10 ECTS) and Development of business concepts (10 ECTS). Thesis module (30 ECTS) comprises of the development project (25 op) and development methods course (5 ECTS). The degree also includes Elective studies (10 ECTS).

TUAS Master School allows studying in a flexible way while working, regardless of the student’s location. Studying is practice oriented, with little traditional lecturing. Learning is achieved through various learning activities and development tasks. The Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme is based on the mixed-mode learning approach and includes online learning activities, independent learning and collaborative group work, project work and monthly contact learning days.

Master's thesis

The thesis is based on a development project which is related to the student’s business idea or business operations. Depending on their situation, the students’ business development projects may refer to developing a new business idea, a product or service concept or a prototype, launching new business or developing existing business operations within a specific area of expertise. The thesis project may be carried out as an assignment to an external customer. The students are not expected to set up their own businesses before or during the programme. Development work is based on research and analysis and carried out using methodologies and tools relevant to the development task. The thesis also involves documentation and reporting on the development process.

The student may link the development project with the topics and activities of the research groups in the Arts Academy. The students can find support for their development projects from other networks operating within TUAS. The thesis project may also be carried out as teamwork.

The Arts Academy of TUAS covers a wide range of arts and media disciplines, which provide the students with opportunities to focus on different types of research and development tasks in their thesis and other learning assignments. The Arts Academy research groups include Film and Media; Arts, Health and Well-being; Contemporary Art and Art Education and Art Pedagogy. The Arts Academy study programmes include visual arts (animation, photography and visual art), performing arts (dance, music, theatre) and media (film, journalism, communication and advertising). Innovative research and development cooperation takes place across disciplinary boundaries within TUAS and with other higher education institutions and working life.

Qualifications and career opportunities

Graduates from TUAS Master School will have developed working life and/or their own business through their thesis project, expanded their national and international networks, and received tools required to advance their career and continuously develop their expertise. Graduates from the Master’s Degree Programme in Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship will have the necessary knowledge and tools to establish themselves as entrepreneurs. Strong business development skills provided by the programme are also a major asset when seeking employment in various expert roles.

The programme leads to a Master’s Degree in Culture and Arts. Master’s programmes at TUAS Master School comply with the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and Finnish National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The learning outcomes of the Master’s programmes are at level 7, as in any other Finnish or European university. A Master’s Degree from TUAS Master School gives formal eligibility to pursue suitable postgraduate studies and for public posts that require a Master level university degree.

A Master’s Degree from TUAS Master School gives formal eligibility to pursue suitable postgraduate studies.

Objective

• analyse and anticipate changes in the operating environment and the business opportunities they create
• develop, evaluate and test creative solutions as part of a multidisciplinary team to solve customers’ and users’ problems.
• apply customer and user-centred development methods to the development of, for example, new business concepts, products and/or services
• produce new knowledge through appropriate methods to support the development work and the evaluation of the commercial potential of a business idea
• create, maintain and utilise partnerships to complement his/her own skills and domestic and international networks to boost the development of his/her own business
• communicate about his/her competences and development work to domestic and international networks and present his/her business ideas to potential business partners and investors in a professional manner

Development

The Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme is based on the blended learning approach and innovation pedagogy.

Most of the studying and learning takes place according to the student’s own schedule in the location of his/her own choice. The studies are completed mainly online, as independent studies and through different group and project assignments. Independent study alternates with and is supported by contact learning, which takes place usually in two consecutive days each month.

The Media and Entrepreneurship programme is by definition multidisciplinary, as its students come with a wide range of educational backgrounds, professional experience and skills sets in the field of culture. The educational and professional diversity of the students is seen as a strength. When working as part of multiprofessional teams, students will have the opportunity to create fresh ideas, solutions and innovations. The multidisciplinary and multiprofessional dimension of the programme is further supported by teaming up with students from the other Master’s degree programme in the field of culture at the Arts Academy, New Contexts for Art.

Learning process supported by teachers

The teachers in the Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship trainer team support the students’ learning process and competence development, supervise the development projects carried out for the thesis and facilitate networking and team work across disciplinary boundaries. In addition to strong pedagogical qualifications, the trainer team also has high professional expertise in the fields of media and art as well as entrepreneurship and project management.

Our Master’s degree programme students and faculty form a learning community, in which peer learning from other media, arts and culture professionals plays a key part and in which teachers and students learn together and from each other.
Each student meets with the tutoring teacher at the beginning of his/her studies and during the second semester. The purpose of the tutoring meeting is to discuss the personal learning objectives and the individual study plan (ISP) of the student.

Student-centred learning and teaching methods

A professional autobiographical process is included in the studies of Master students of Arts Academy. For Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship students it is included in the course Entrepreneurial Skills and Identity. The professional autobiographical process supports the students’ continuous reflection on their entrepreneurial identity, strengths, skills and development needs as well as competence development during the studies.

The courses of Arts Academy Master programmes are planned and built around a student-centred learning process and authentic, motivating learning tasks. Many of the learning tasks are linked with the students’ own development projects for the thesis and support their thesis writing process. Learning tasks may also be based on real-life cases, problems and assignments provided by our working life partners.

The learning tasks are ideally carried out as part of the work in multiprofessional teams. As a rule, the independently completed learning tasks are also shared with the group through the online platform for discussion and learning. Peer assessment plays a key role in the completion of the learning tasks both for the courses and the development project.

Students' learning is assessed through a variety of methods. In addition to the assessment conducted by the teachers, self-assessment and peer assessment are systematically used. Learning is also assessed externally by working life partners, such as student mentors. The assessment covers the competences attained by the student as well as his/her competence development during the studies. The main purpose of the assessment is to support the students’ competence development. (See Assessment for more details.)

Diverse learning environments

In the Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme, the studies and learning take place in a variety of different learning environments. Some of the learning environments are used by all students together, while some environments are used by those who find the specific environment relevant and rewarding with regard to their learning objectives and competence track.

The campus environment: The Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship students convene for a contact learning period at the TUAS campus usually once a month. Contact learning offers an important platform for learning guidance, peer support, team work and collective reflection. In addition, the contact learning periods include lectures and talks by visiting experts and the programme’s own lecturers and/or visits to local businesses and entrepreneur communities. During the contact learning period, the students also meet with the Contemporary Contexts of Arts students of the Arts Academy at lectures and workshops to achieve creative collisions.

Online learning environment: The online learning management system (LMS) of TUAS is the “homebase” for blended learning, providing the students with general information about the degree programme as well as the schedule, learning materials and instructions for each module or course as well as the tools used for completing, sharing and/or submitting the learning tasks. Some of the learning activities take place online in interaction with a group or a team of students. The tools of the LMS may also be complemented with other e-learning technologies, such as Skype for Business, Teams and social media tools.

Business networks: The Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme is offered in close collaboration with working life networks and students are encouraged to make active use of their own professional networks in their development projects and other studies and to build new networks to support their future business activities. At the early stages of the studies, each student is expected to find a mentor from outside the TUAS organisation. We engage in extensive long-term collaboration with our partner companies, which play a key role in the degree programme: they host company visits, provide guest lecturers and give assignments for student projects based on real need and share authentic learning tasks to be used on our courses.

During the studies, students will also learn about the communities, networks and services available to new entrepreneurs. The students are encouraged to attend business events, services and training relevant to their own entrepreneurial career path and to include these activities in their elective studies.

Research groups and RDI projects: The students also have the opportunity to complete the development project for their thesis as part of one of the research groups at the Arts Academy or other research, development and innovation projects at TUAS. The students may also include project-based studies in the RDI projects at the Arts Academy as elective studies.

Feedback system

The Cultural and Media Entrepreneurship programme is based on continuous feedback: students meet their tutor teacher at the beginning of each contact learning period to discuss matters related to their studies. One purpose of the tutor meetings is to facilitate giving feedback so that any issues can be addressed immediately. Feedback can also be given via the Optima online learning environment. In addition, students are requested to give general feedback on their studies on an online feedback form at the end of the first academic year and before graduating at the end of their studies.

The degree programme is constantly developed in dialogue with working life. Feedback will be received from, for example, the Arts Academy advisory council, project partners and working life partners.

Further information

The assessment of each course is based on competence goals detailed in the curriculum, which are in turn based on the competence goals set for the entire degree programme. The innovation competences of TUAS are taken into account in the competence goals for the degree. The scale of assessment is Approved/Failed, except for the development project for the thesis which is graded on a scale from 0 to 5.

The assessment of the development project is based on the common assessment criteria for Master’s degree theses at TUAS. The thesis is always evaluated by two examiners, one of whom also supervises the thesis work. The second examiner may be a teacher from Turku University of Applied Sciences or a working life representative. The students will receive a written statement on their thesis detailing the grounds for the grade awarded.

Prior to the summative assessment at the end of the thesis process, students will receive feedback from their thesis supervisor(s) with the purpose of helping students improve their final thesis. Process assessment takes place in a group situation in connection with the presentation of the research and development plan and at later stages of the development project, during individual supervisory discussions and following the submission of the draft thesis report.

Assessment by teachers: The course assessment by the teacher covers all learning assignments submitted during the course in accordance with the principle of continuous assessment. The focus of the assessment is on both the final product (such as a report or a presentation) demonstrating the student’s competences (learning outcomes) and the student’s learning process (competence development). The learning process is made visible in the online learning environment (by sharing draft versions of learning assignments in the discussion forum, by giving and receiving peer feedback and editing the work based on feedback), during face-to-face meetings, in which students may give progress reports on their projects, during supervisory meetings with the teacher and in the reports written by the student on their work.

Self-assessment is essentially based on a professional autobiographical process that continues throughout the studies. It serves as a tool for reflection on the students’ own skills and their development and on their professional identity. In addition, the students are expected to reflect on the progress of their learning in all reports written during the studies, such as the project-based course reports in elective studies and the thesis report on the development project.

Peer assessment is used in many learning tasks on the Optima online platform, with students sharing drafts and final versions of their learning tasks with each other and giving feedback on their respective performance. The students will also have the opportunity to give peer feedback during the contact learning periods in the context of presentations on development projects and discussions on learning assignments. Peer assessment is an essential part of each course.

Assessment by working life partners: External working life partners may assess student performance during the thesis work, if the work was assigned by an external working life partner or if a working life representative is appointed as a second supervisor and/or examiner. The courses also include lectures and workshops by guest experts, who will give feedback on student performance during contact learning periods. External mentors support the students’ competence development by giving feedback during the discussions between the mentor and the student. The purpose of the assessment conducted by a working life partner is mainly to support the students’ competence development and achievement of goals, so it is provided primarily for the personal benefit of the student.