Abstract:

This paper present a methodological procedure to manage mater thesis based on competences. The master thesis is usually conceived as a tutored individual work in which the student develops different competences to achieve a well defined goal. These competences are usually a subset of those defined in the master program and possibly, partially or totally, developed in one or several subjects in the master. Since the master thesis represents in the majority of master degrees the biggest activity in terms of ECTS and dedication time of the student, an accurate management of it is needed to assure that the associated competences are achieved.
Competences vary from one thesis to another not only because goals are different but also because the master domain (technological, experimental science, humanities, economics, etc.) and orientation (professional, research, etc.) of the master differ. Based on the definition of a research master program in the domain of computer science, an accurate analysis of how the master thesis has to be developed and managed has been performed. The analysis takes into account the different actors involved in the execution of the master thesis from its definition to the final evaluation. Specific roles have been defined for these actors in different stages of the thesis to conduct and evaluate the progression of the student towards the achievement of the thesis objectives and the development of competences. Conclusions of this analysis have been used to define the execution guidelines for a master thesis in the context described. These guidelines have been implemented in collaborative software that allows monitoring the evolution of the master thesis and the evidences of how competences are achieved. For the design of this framework for defining, monitoring and controlling of the Master's thesis, the authors have conducted a detailed study of different procedures and actors who are involved in the development of a Master's thesis, taking into account the different possible cases. The lead actor is of course the student is the one who must make his Master's thesis, but the implementation would take the centralized supervision of their work by the other actors. The framework has been shown to be of great help in achieving the thesis objectives by students. Because, it provides a methodology that facilitates the self-supervision of student, as well as, easy monitoring of the thesis evolution by the student advisor. This framework can be used in other master's degrees making minor modifications to reflect the specific peculiarities in each case. At the moment, the immediate future work is focused on generating an improved version of the application so that it can also be used in English. This improvement is considered very important for what this tool is really effective in the masters of the areas of technology where there is an increasing participation of students and teachers english speaking who can be advisors, co-advisors or external reviewers.

Keywords:

master thesis, tutoring and coaching, skill evaluation.