Master’s degree programmes at Xamk are provided by Master School. Master School is a multidisciplinary, international and change-oriented learning and RDI environment. You can choose from a number of different learning paths to develop your expertise and skills and promote your career.
Graduates from Master School are experts in understanding and recognising changes in work environments. At Master School, you have the opportunity to study in multidisciplinary learning and development environments that are closely linked to work-related development and innovation. You can flexibly choose courses from the selection offered by Xamk’s Master School.
Your teachers provide guidance and counselling, encouraging critical thinking, argumentation and generation and application of new knowledge.
The general and programme-specific learning outcomes and the process of students’ professional growth and learning are specified in the curriculum of the university of applied sciences. The curriculum is based on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Level 7 corresponds to the knowledge and skills achieved by completing a Master’s degree. The curriculum is based on the needs and development of the world of work and the overall strategic choices of Xamk.
The competence-based curriculum consists of the programme’s learning outcomes, modules and courses. The objectives, contents, teachers, learning and teaching modes, arrangements, work required, timetables and evaluation methods for courses are specified in implementation plans. The implementation plans provide the foundation for students’ personal study plans (‘HOPS’ in Finnish) and individual choices. In addition, they provide the basis for fruitful co-operation between students representing different fields of study.
This section corresponds to the previous SoleOps section ‘1.2 General Goals of the Degree Programme’. It describes the most important objectives of the programme, that is, the skills and competences achieved at the general level.
The competence developed through the degree programme is divided into core competence and supplementary competence.
Core competence (must know) comprises the knowledge, skills and aptitude required of graduates by employers. All graduates should possess this competence. In addition to this, supplementary competence is necessary for deepening or expanding the core competence. Core competence is developed through programme-specific advanced professional studies and the Master’s thesis. In degree programmes of 90 and 60 credits, core competence accounts for 60 and 50 credits, respectively. The thesis (30 credits) is included in core competence. Core and supplementary competences are specified at the module level.
Supplementary competence (should know) deepens and/or expands core competence. Supplementary competence allows students to specialise in a certain area. Supplementary competence is acquired through advanced professional studies that are common for all degree programmes in Master School. In degree programmes of 90 and 60 credits, supplementary competence accounts for 30 and 10 credits, respectively.
The curriculum consists of programme-specific core studies (30 credits), supplementary studies common for all programmes (30 credits) and a Master’s thesis (30 credits), which is a development project.
In accordance with your personal study plan (HOPS), you may choose supplementary competence courses as follows:
1) courses common for all Master School students, including research and development studies, leadership studies, entrepreneurship studies, Russian studies, communication skills training and courses on topical themes
2) core competence courses from other Master’s degree programmes (specifically agreed)
3) courses corresponding to Level 7 provided by other higher education institutions.
Common Master School courses are provided as online courses, courses taught in English, intensive courses and on a blended learning basis. Student groups are multidisciplinary, which promotes the development of your networking skills.
The Master’s thesis (30 credits) is a research or development project. You will study topical questions associated with your field of study and produce development data through research. Thus, the Master’s thesis is always a project that aims to develop the work environment, workplace or field of industry/business.
The degree programme is built on the European (EQF) and National (NQF) Qualifications Frameworks. Master School is Xamk’s multidisciplinary, international and change-oriented learning and RDI environment.
The studies that develop core competence are specifically designed for each degree programme. This work is led by the person in charge for the programme – Martti Kettunen.
The supplementary courses provided are common for all Master’s degree programmes. Xamk’s Master School team together with the persons in charge of the degree programmes are responsible for designing these studies. See the Student intranet for the composition of the team and the persons in charge.
Competence map for Master’s programmes
Learning skills
o can systematically assess and improve their expertise in multiple ways
o can find, process, produce and evaluate information critically and from perspectives of different fields of business/industry
o can take responsibility for the promotion of goal-oriented learning within the organisation
Ethical competence
o can take responsibility for the operations of the organisation and their consequences
o can apply the principles of professional code of conduct as an expert and developer of the workplace
o can make decisions while taking into account the perspectives of the individual and the organisation
o can promote the principles of equality in the workplace community
o can promote the principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility
o can lead socially influential operations adhering to ethical values
Workplace community skills
o can improve the functioning of the workplace community and promote well-being at work
o can develop multidisciplinary communication and interaction at work
o can utilise information and communication technology at work
o can create networks and partnerships
o can work as a leader and improve operations in complex environments and unforeseen circumstances
o can manage demanding expert, leader or entrepreneur jobs
Innovation skills
o can generate new knowledge and improve working methods by combining skills from different fields of business/industry
o can lead projects
o can lead research, development and innovation projects and knows research and development methods
o can develop customer-driven, sustainable and profitable business
Internationalisation skills
o can manage international communication at work and when developing the operations
o can work in international environments
o can anticipate effects of internationalisation and related opportunities in his/her field of business/industry
Strategic Cybersecurity
o can recognize the importance of cybersecurity in different areas.
o can develop cyber security strategies in different context.
o can describe an organized, concise and well written security policy.
o can understand the classification of vulnerabilities.
o can describe the variety of tools in threat analysis and cyber defense.
o can manage various cyber security business models and security services.
o can carry out a security audit.
o can develop a plan of the entrepreneurship in field of cyber security.
o can advise users about social engineering and security risks.
o can gain knowledge of security threats and risks in information services provided by third parties
Functional Cybersecurity
o can analyze the local information systems from the attacker’s point of view.
o can examine information systems to find potential attack surfaces.
o can use common tools for gathering information about the target systems
o can implement counter measures against cyber-attacks.
o can harden the information system security.
o can manage the principles of application security.
o can protect industrial internet systems.
o can manage intrusion detection systems.
o can apply counter-measures in the network infrastructure.
The objective of the education is to produce modern high-level competences in the area of the cybersecurity. Disruptions in the operations of our Internet based society may be fatal. Such disruptions may result from cyber-attacks. These attacks may focus even on the critical infrastructures: Energy Production and Distribution, Water Systems, Transport and Communication Infrastructure, Health Care and Financial Services. New skills will be needed for preventing, detecting, responding, and in case of failure, mitigating of the consequences.
In the studies there will be lot of practical laboratory working. All the students will personally do several case studies in virtual laboratory environment. Some of the case studies will be on the area of maritime cybersecurity and energy infrastructure. The laboratory working can be performed as distant learning. The education in cybersecurity is targeted for applicants who have bachelor’s level degree in engineering in the field of information and communications technology or other equivalent degree and also at least three years of suitable work experience after the bachelor’s degree. Master thesis and the learning tasks can be designed to develop the employer organization’s activities, benefiting both parties. Internationalization is important part of the education. Visiting lecturers are participating the courses and also international practices and examples are used in education. The Master studies are available to foreign students.
The studies can be performed in addition to the full-time job. Studies use blended-learning methods including lectures and cooperative learning sessions, e-learning, and project-based learning. There is on average three contact days per month. Contact sessions are held mainly in Kotka.
Competence-based curricula require competence-based evaluation.
Your degree programme applies Xamk’s common evaluation criteria for Master’s programmes, from which course-specific evaluation criteria have been derived. Students receive grades for courses in accordance with the degree regulation. Course-specific evaluation criteria can be found in the course description.
The most important objective of evaluation is to inform students of the level of their knowledge and skills and help them to improve their skills. Various assessment methods are used for the evaluation of learning, including course- and module-specific evaluation by the teacher, peer evaluation and evaluation by the employer. In addition, students evaluate themselves. Self-evaluation is part of the process of professional growth which is promoted through guidance discussions between the group tutor and the student.
The university of applied sciences is providing sufficient guidance to enable you to create a meaningful degree that meets your goals and that you can achieve within the timeframe and in the manner specified in the goals. The entire staff of the university takes part in study guidance. High-quality study guidance helps the student in better planning of the studies and in preventing and solving problems related to the progress of the studies.
Guidance is based on a student-oriented approach with the opportunity for the student to make genuine choices. You may be offered various options for taking degrees that are based on individual combinations of competences. Your professional competence is built on combining theory and practice in various learning environments. The central objectives of guidance are to contribute toward the smooth progress of your studying process and to support your professional growth.
A mentor teacher provides assistance and guidance in choices that will influence the smooth progress of your studies and your professional growth. Mentor teacher in programme degree in cybersecurity is Martti Kettunen.
Xamk offers excellent environments for your learning. Significant part of studying happens ouside the classroom. Innovation- and project environments (e.g. Xinno, Xentre, CampusIT and Logistiikkaverstas), different kinds of simulation environments and teaching restaurants, eLearning environments and working life and RDI –projects are your learning environments. You can also conduct your studies in two authentic local environments: in the forest and at the sea.
Xamk values quality and the improvement of quality is integral part of the work of all staff and students. Xamk continuously improves the quality of teaching, guidance, learning environments and degree programmes.
The feedback collected on a regular basis from students, staff and stakeholders is very important for the quality improvement work. As a student, you have a central role in the continuous development of quality at Xamk. During your studies, you will be asked to answer a number of quality surveys. Course feedback, the entry and development surveys carried out during your studies and the feedback collected at the graduation stage constitute part of our quality assurance system.
Staff and students process quality feedback together on various collaboration forums, deciding on new methods and discussing the effects of previous development measures. These forums provide an efficient channel for students to express their views on performance and planned measures.
Our quality assurance system is based on the so-called circle of continuous development, or quality circle: Plan – Do – Check – Act. For more information about quality assessment and improvement, see the Student intranet.