Visa resultat

MASTER THESIS SPRING 2013

About You

1. What is your gender*

Female»		33		70%
Male»		14		29%

Genomsnitt: 1.29

2. In which studio have you been working with your thesis

Design for Sutainable Development»		15		32%
Future vision»		9		19%
Architecture and Urban Design»		11		23%
Matter Space and Structure»		11		23%

Genomsnitt: 2.39

3. What was your main topic?

Preparation to start thesis work

4. Have you followed one of the preparation course before you started your thesis work?

Yes»		34		73%
No»		12		26%

Genomsnitt: 1.26

- Very good opportunity to develop my research further than usual» (Yes)
- Yes I did the Prep course with Morten, I think it was very helpful to have time to do necessary research for the MT. I would recommend it to all students before their MT.» (Yes)
- Advanced Theory, which didn"t teach me anything.» (Yes)
- I took the Advanced Theory course, but it did not help me at all with choosing a subject for my thesis, how to write or how to start my thesis. I am very disappointed about this course and hope it will change drastically before next year.» (Yes)
- Advanced Theory and Methodology» (Yes)
- I took the Leadership-course. It was extremely helpful!!!!!!!» (Yes)
- Good course, but it was overlapping with another course that I had to take if I wanted to get all my credits.» (Yes)
- Leadership, it was a very good course!» (Yes)
- Leadership for Architectural Professions» (Yes)
- The "Leadership.." course was a really good preparation. Maja is fantastic and many of the questions discussed should be raised even earlier in the education. » (Yes)
- The leadership course» (Yes)
- The leadership course. Excellent course. Essential for the process and the outcome of the thesis.» (Yes)
- I have not been studying at Chalmers during my master, I have been 2 years on exchange. » (No)

Information

5. What is your opinion about the information and guidance to start the thesis work?

46 svarande

1»		5		10%
2»		12		26%
3»		14		30%
4»		10		21%
5»		5		10%

Genomsnitt: 2.95

- Didn"t really receive any information and wasn"t sure what a master thesis was supposed to include even when I started.» (1)
- The thesis should be 100 days. But nothing happend at school before late September and then it finished in the beginning of December - so if was just a half thesis. 50 days were missing.» (1)
- Except the Leadership-course, there were very little information, close to none. Questions emailed to Ana Betancour about the hand-in of the project plan and portfolio were not answered. We all had the same questions. It would have been so easy to just send an email to all of us with some added information when they realised that everything was not crystal clear. » (1)
- Confusing and unnecessarily complex. Coordinate more and get more organized! » (2)
- Vi har under utbildningen i helhet fått lära oss att det är viktigt att sortera information. Det borde också gälla den information/direktiv vi får tillgång till. Dessa dokument har varit mycket långa fyllda med brokig information (här borde man ta hänsyn till att läsaren alltså vi studenter är under press) flera gånger bara VERSALER och ofta flertalet !!!!!. VIlket under INGA omständigheter är trevligt eller informativt utan hotfullt och otrevligt. Jag föreslår en kortfattad numrerad lista med information följt av bifogade mer djupgående förklaringar.» (2)
- There should be clear information about the practicalities: what constitutes a thesis, how is a rapport written, what will be the frequency of the tutorials, etc. Simple information that could be the same every year, instead of students feeling like they have no idea what"s in front of them when they"re about to start.» (2)
- It would have been nice to have a start up gathering on the first day with some general information. Since me and and my thesis partner were registred on MPARC but our supervisor and examinator were from MPDSD we had no idea where we belonged and where we were supposed to sit. Lena Falkheden helped us with providing places in the Sustainable studio but it was a confusing first week when we moved around between other course studios and the cafeteria.» (2)
- I would liked to have more information. » (3)
- Could have been good with an information meeting some months before the thesis starts, where all the questions could be asked. » (3)
- It would have been nice to have a clearer idea in advance on how the thesis is done in the different studios in order to choose a studio that was right for me. » (3)
- A lot of information but unstructured and unnecessary complicated. Only the performing all the administration tasks took the entire first week of work. » (3)
- Very bad information about how to chose tutors» (3)
- starting information online is really good, very clear emails from Lotta and Susanne» (4)
- I think it was well structured, we got a meeting and emails before the thesis starts. I appreciated the fact that we have to send our first thesis" idea in the middle of the semester before, so that the master"s staff can propose us appropriated supervisors and examiners.» (4)
- Good from the leafership course, not so good from the school. It was sometimes hard to understand what we actually needed to hand in and to whom.» (4)
- my tutor daniel norell provided the most useful information about getting started. on the other hand, it would have been good if the school encouraged students to get understand the point and scope of the master thesis a bit earlier in the program.» (4)
- All thanks to the leadership course. Without it there would only have been loads of written information that would have been hard to get through on your own. » (5)

6. What is your opinion about the relevance and accessibility of the information on the website?

45 svarande

1»		5		11%
2»		13		28%
3»		20		44%
4»		5		11%
5»		2		4%

Genomsnitt: 2.68

- Which website? Be specific!» (?)
- Haven"t seen it» (1)
- Hard to find the information on the website.» (1)
- Det är vida känt på skolan att Chalmers hemsida är mycket omständlig och svår att orientera sig i. Jag har själv gått via google där jag har sökt direkt till olika funktioner ex. "chalmers master info".» (1)
- What website? Studentportalen? Studieportalen?» (2)
- Vadå för information? » (2)
- Not easy to find and hard to find anything about how to choose examiner and supervisior. A list of persons to choose from that is not from 2009 is needed. » (2)
- Everything is very cryptically organized, it"s very difficult to find relevant information - most things could and should be collected into one simple summary. » (2)
- I have not relied on the information on the web, I spoke to people instead» (3)
- The "guidelines" have been useful, but Chalmers website is a mess and difficult to navigate. » (3)
- I didn"t use the website so much by myself, information was mainly redirected by the master"s staff, so I don"t really know if the information is accessible on the website if you search it by yourself. However the information was clear enough to me.» (3)

7. What is your opinion about the information regarding the different procedures from start to final public presentation?

1»		5		10%
2»		10		21%
3»		13		28%
4»		14		30%
5»		4		8%

Genomsnitt: 3.04

- Didn"t really know that there was a procedure, just followed what the examiners info from week to week. » (1)
- Confusing and unnecessarily complex. Coordinate more and get more organized! A lot of different people saying different things without talking to eachother first!» (2)
- Konstig fråga. Det fanns en väg.» (2)
- We got different information from different teachers.» (2)
- Vi har fått information tidigt. Men det har varit ett konstant flyttande av datum på mitt-kritik och slutpresentation, vilket har varit mycket stressande. Det har varit material som ska ha skickats in fem arbetsdagar innan så när datum har flyttats så har även dessa "deadlines" flyttats vilket verkligen har försvårat arbetet. För min egen del innebar det att jag fick ett mail en fredag eftermiddag med info att jag borde skicka in min rapport senast samma dag för att kritikerna skulle få tillräckligt med tid för genomläsning, då min kritiker hade haft svårt att lösa datum frågan med sina kritiker. Ni bör i framtiden sätta samma datum för inlämning för alla inom studion med framförhållning. Så att vi studenter kan planera vårt arbete!» (2)
- See earlier comments.» (2)
- Where is the advertisement about our presentation?!» (2)
- The start information was poor, with the hand-in of the project plan and portfolio and so on. During the semester there was also very little information, even from the examiner. Schedules for mid-seminar were late, as was the information about hand-in dates for Mid-seminar, Final seminar and complementaries. The information from Saddek regarding the final part was thourough. » (2)
- The information is ok, but I got the exactly dates about the presentations only one week before on both midsem, and finalsem. I think that could come earlier. » (3)
- we got only a little information about this in the studio» (3)
- My main comment regards the moment when you"ve passed. A majority of the studios seemed to be informed of this after the examination. We were however not informed after our examination. If we had passed or not, this was very stressful and my wish is that it should be the same discourse regardless the studio.» (3)
- Unnecessary complicated.» (3)
- The mic-crit was well organized. When it comes to the final seminar the dates were given way too late . It essential to have a fixed day to be able to plan your work well in advance. The info on the final exhibition and presentation was clear, thanks to Tabitas information meeting. » (3)
- The information often came very late, it would be better to be able to prepare more for when to hand the material in for the different seminars.» (4)
- We got a clear schedule from the beginning, weekly based. However more precise information like the actual examination day came quite late and it would have been nice to know it before, as it also define the day of the hand-in.» (4)
- our examiner morten lund gave clear information about this» (4)

8. What is your opinion about the information regarding the requirements to achieve a good thesis work?

46 svarande

1»		8		17%
2»		10		21%
3»		14		30%
4»		10		21%
5»		4		8%

Genomsnitt: 2.82

- Hadn"t even read it and where asked to add things because of that in the end. I think the infromation on what exactly I have to had on the thesis could be clearer and the teachers should also togheter discuss that, since they have all given me different answers. » (1)
- Haven"t received any» (1)
- absolute lack of any information what is expected...unclear answers whenever a question was raised!!!!!» (1)
- Has there been any information about this other then looking at previous MT"s?» (1)
- See earlier comments.» (2)
- Just some comments from the examiner about what the censors had said last year. » (2)
- again, my tutor provided excellent guidance and advice, but the idea of what a master thesis really is, seemed very poorly established among students (mycself included)» (2)
- I thought it was difficult to understand what was required of me with a sustainable master compared to the other studios, and how I should lay out my work load in order to do this. » (3)
- We got the guidelines from the beginning, but in my case know how to achieve a good thesis work came more from my supervisor.» (3)
- I do not understand the question.» (3)
- Good and clear in the matter space studio» (4)
- Good info from the leadership course.» (4)
- It became obvious that a good phrased question, a narrow framework and hard work is the key to success.» (5)

Thesis work, supervision, examination, work environment and administration

9. What is your opinion about the supervision you got during your thesis work?

45 svarande

1»		5		11%
2»		3		6%
3»		9		20%
4»		11		24%
5»		17		37%

Genomsnitt: 3.71

- Have only got 3 meeting with a tutor IN A WHOLE year. I think that nothing has been working during these two semesters and I am very glad that I havn"t been doing my master at Chalmers. Look at KTH or any other school to learn how to educate architects.» (1)
- The planning report was hardly even glanced at on the first meeting with the tutors. The absent initial guidance was followed by bland critiques in the following tutorials and seminars. Mostly "Keep going", "Go for it", meaningless comments without much guidance. » (1)
- The tutors was ok but could have been more focused and harder.» (2)
- Perhaps the selection of supervisors could be done with a little more care.» (2)
- supervision should have been more often and better organised. also a tutor should be chosen according to the field of thesis, not automatically assigned from the studio» (3)
- The supervisors were very rarely around and our main way of contacting them was through email, which felt insufficient.» (3)
- Good, a bit lame. Would have been good to have two supervisors to complement each other. Difficult to find time for supervision when needed. » (3)
- Above expectation» (4)
- The supervision was good. We got a schedule with all the dates for tutorials in the besinning of the term, there was just a few occations were there was a change of schedule. We did not have tutorials every week, but every third. It suited me, I could keep contact through email or Skype if needed. I felt very independent. We had a lot of trouble before finding a good workspace and I really think that Chalmers should take a closer look at ventilation which was appalingly bad!» (4)
- very good from supervisor but nothing from examiner» (4)
- Since we were away from Chalmers during 2 months we had some special circumstances and had very little tutoring during that time. But once we met our supervisor it was always rewarding. » (4)
- One supervisor seemed to have a very vague idea of what was expected from a supervisor. Also a small understanding of how the MT-process actually works and what was expected from us as students. This is something that the supervisors should know and explain to the students, not the other way around. We had the opportunity to have an on extra supervisor to get input on other parts of the thesis. This was highly important for the outcome.» (4)
- Anna Braide was vereygood» (5)
- I loved my supervisor! We met every other week and I got a lot of useful help from him.» (5)
- My supervisor has the same topic of research as my thesis, so the supervision was really relevant. I got good reference literature and guidance, and at the same time I was still free to take my own decisions about the thesis" orientation.» (5)
- Min handledare Anna Braide Eriksson har varit helt fantastisk! Strukturerad, uppmuntrande och hon har ställt krav på mig som drivit arbetet framåt. Vi planerade vid vårt första möte alla våra handledningstillfällen och hon har följt mitt arbete på ett föredömligt sätt. Jag kan bara säga att jag är tacksam för all hennes hjälp och hoppas att hon fortsätter som handledare för framtida ex-jobb.» (5)
- MSS was a great studio, and Daniel Norell a serious and engaged supervisor.» (5)
- im very happy about the support and input from both my supervisor and examiner.» (5)

10. What is your opinion about the mid seminar?

46 svarande

1»		3		6%
2»		3		6%
3»		8		17%
4»		22		47%
5»		10		21%

Genomsnitt: 3.71

- Did not have one.» (1)
- The mid-seminar did not follow the guidelines of Chalmers Architecture what so ever. It was pretty much like any of the scenarios. No external critics, no student opposition. No clear information of the progress of the thesis. » (1)
- We had no external examinors (external as not connected to the studio) during the mid seminar, hence it felt like a regular pin-up. I did not approve of this since I feel that we were entitled to external critics and it would have been valuable to get anothers opinion.» (2)
- Although we had been told there would be certain criteria to fill at the time of the mid term seminar, and that we would have an external critic at the seminar, neither of these things were true on the day. It seemed like just another tutorial and only our internal examiner was present.» (2)
- Det är positivt att få en insikt i vad de andra studenterna är i sina processer.» (3)
- we had 2, and i think one would have bee enough.» (3)
- very good and useful, due to morten lund. He pushed us in the right direction» (4)
- Good to meet up and discuss the thesis and a goood way to understand where I stand. » (4)
- It was good.» (4)
- breaking point in the process» (4)
- Good to see other students work.» (4)
- It is good to have a first official deadline in the middle of the semester. I know that teachers try to push students to start with design before the midterm, and not to present only research, but I think it should be set even more clearly and as a requirement from the beginning (maybe at the information session before the semester starts).» (4)
- Good to have a clear deadline. The information should have been clearer that you should have reached furtehr by this stage. Comments a bit lame. » (4)
- Well organized, positive atmosphear. Great to get feedback at this stage and to see other students work.» (4)
- It would be even better if also the examinor would present her/his opinion regarding the achievement.» (5)
- I liked that we had many mid crits, not just one. » (5)
- very useful» (5)
- It was nice to have Gert Wingårdh as critic.» (5)

11. What is your opinion about feedback and comments from/to students during your work process?

45 svarande

1»		2		4%
2»		5		11%
3»		10		22%
4»		13		28%
5»		15		33%

Genomsnitt: 3.75

- More collaboration could have been emphasised between students between different studios.» (2)
- Havn"t have any. » (2)
- My biggest regret about this thesis is to not have been part of a reference group. I was often alone with my thesis without so much interference and help...» (2)
- Enclosed in a studio-space feedback comes atomatically. It was s spoken recommendation to team up in groups and share/guide/tutor other students thesises. It was, however, not followed-up on.» (2)
- I did not get or give much feedback out of the midterm, but this is also because I didn"t go to others by myself. Maybe having students" exchange sessions could be officialised more, and not just encouraged. Maybe a way could be to officially "register" in a group, send the group"s list to the head of the master"s programme and set dates of meetings.» (3)
- It has been very helpful to have a studio to work within and the other students" input has been a very important part of my thesis work. » (4)
- I was in a feedback-group that me and some friends, who also did their master thesis, put together.» (4)
- The best part of the entire studio!» (5)
- the best feature of the studio was the students and our unofficial collaboration and discussions...unfortunatelly official discussions during pinups and presentations are neither usual nor encouragged » (5)
- We always worked in the studio and constantly spoke to each other when we got stuck/needed an opinion/had the need to talk.» (5)
- We formed our own feedback group with fellow students, that was really helpful.» (5)
- Jag har varit del i två olika feedback grupper och rekommenderar det för alla studenter som jobbar själva. Det är lärorikt att få en insikt i vad andra gör och prata om sitt eget arbete.» (5)
- I and five fellow students had a feedback group. We met once a week and discussed both common questions and specific topics. It was really good, and made you realise that everyone are dealing with the same questions. Helped to get further and don"t get stuck. But sometimes it could be too much input as well. » (5)
- we had a very good studio culture, where everyone got and gave feedbeck whenever someone asked for it. i think this is ideal, and would not want any formal requirements on feedback between students, or that you"d have to attend other students tutorials.» (5)
- We formed our own feedback group with a couple of students at an early stage and had meetings throughout the whole term. This was an important part of our process. Fellow students are often more engaged and intersted in your work than teachers and supervisors.» (5)

12. What is your opinion about the final seminar (examination), have you been judged seriously by the jury?

46 svarande

1»		5		10%
2»		2		4%
3»		10		21%
4»		10		21%
5»		19		41%

Genomsnitt: 3.78

- final seminar was not held seriously by the teachers. it was very unofficial and can"t be called "final"» (1)
- We had no external jury, hence it did not feel like an examination.» (1)
- Before christmas - no. Then I arranged my final seminar myself and invited a good and serious examinor - so yes, that was good but it was also the only relevant feedback that I god during a whole year.» (1)
- There was no jury. Apart from mid-term seminar all tutors of the studio was present this time. At least half of the day. No external jury-member, no student oppositions. An complete uncertainty on wether your project is heading towards a pass or a fail. This lack of information on the status of the thesis seem to have been used as a method to push projects forward. Though unspoken, I felt a threat of failing forced you to take it a little further, even though your own planning said something completely different. Towards the end of the thesis work it felt like you had no control over your own process and was tossed around between tutorials, part hand-ins and schedule-changes.» (1)
- I didn"t get any external examiner, but the comments from those who where there where fine. » (2)
- Again, we were told there would be an external critic at the final seminar, which there wasn"t. We were also not told until one week later whether or not we had passed, which contributed to a lot of stress in the studio.» (2)
- The external and internal jurymembers were great. But perhaps the examiners should discuss appropriate ways on how to deliver the "extra conditions". That "meeting" was one of the strangest moments I"ve had in my life. Firstly, I think that the student should get the conditions in writing. Secondly, the examiners must take their time to sit down with the student and explain what should be improved and why and not running around, packing his/her things while telling the conditions in a totally unstructured way. » (3)
- sad that it wasnt a very interesting discussion, they just said what they thought» (3)
- I think the final seminar was good, the jury judged my work seriously. However, the emainer"s attitude was strange. I got passed without condition, yet the examiner kept repeating things I could have done better, and finilised with: "Shall we move on to the next then". No words about that I had done a good job or anything. This is typical for Chalmers I think. Good is never good enough, you should always know that you could have worked a little harder, do a little more. This is a shame I think. I went away from the seminar not knowing if I should celebrate because I had passed without condition, or go home and do it all over again. » (3)
- The jury was well chosen for the topic. They had read everything and pointed out relevant things. Could have wished for a bit more critical comments to take it to an even more interesting discussion.» (3)
- Yes but there was a lot of pointers I would rather have known earlier or the tutors should have been more clear and demanded more out of me.» (4)
- as said before: It would be even better if also the examinor would present her/his opinion regarding the achievement.» (5)
- Yes, I got good feedback and my thesis with annotations, comments and suggestions was given to me at the end. My supervisor also took notes during the whole seminar and handed it to me. Modifications to do before the public presentation were clear.» (5)
- De var väldigt engagerade, deras kommentarer var konstruktiva. Min examinator hade hittat personer med väldigt kompletterande bakgrund. Jag fick deras kommentarer på min rapport nedskrivna vilket underlättade mitt arbete att förbättra rapporten. » (5)
- The final seminar was very well organized and we got some great opinions from the jury. We could not be happier with the final seminar.» (5)

13. What is your opinion about the physical work environment?

45 svarande

1»		2		4%
2»		7		15%
3»		16		35%
4»		16		35%
5»		4		8%

Genomsnitt: 3.28

- have not been working in school during my thesis» (?)
- Bad air quality» (1)
- The room for MA in MPDSD was very cold during the winter and warm during the last month» (2)
- We had to go through a lot of fuss before we were allowed to our workspace, we had very poor ventilation and I think it is really bad that there is no recycling possibilities in the studio space since we use so much paper/cardboard. The cleaning was not so frequent in relation to the amount of people in the studio- so we often put out the bin in the corridor as a method to have them emptied.» (2)
- The ventilation of the studio space was repaired 3 months into the thesis. That helped a little. Headaches, fatigue got a little better. However, we did have our own table space which was very handy as model sketching cannot be cleaned after each day. Not worth the time.» (2)
- The air on the second floor is very stuffy and it gets hot easily, and not having any windows to the outside makes it worse.» (2)
- We had a great studio, but we should have needed more space for models and materials.» (3)
- First we did not have a place to work at school. It took a couple of weeks before we found a place. This procedure took unnecessary time from the thesis work.» (3)
- Our studio in the V-building was warm (in spring) and the air quality was really bad sometimes. It is very important to have your own desk, this was a plus. The "kitchen" was a big minus. There has to be a proper zink at least, and timer for the coffee machine etc. Sometimes there was a lack of computers. The printers were always causing trouble and we had to go to the A building to get colour prints. That is a bit to far. » (3)
- Apart from the fact that we have been crammed and the ventilation didnt work very well, it has been good» (4)
- The Studio was very nice but needs more blinders to stop the sun in the very big windows.» (4)
- Har suttit på fastighrtskontoret» (4)
- It was not a lot of space, especially not for all the models, but it worked.» (4)
- studio space nice, only ventilation wasn"t working until may» (4)
- We had a studio and there was enough work space for all of us, everyone had a table. However we occupied some space informally, to make coffee, eat, have meetings in order to keep the studio quiet, we didn"t have a fridge either and that would have been nice as we were quite many. So maybe it would be good to allow us to use those spaces more officially.» (4)
- Jag har hat ett eget arbetsbord och är nöjd med miljön.» (4)
- We had good studios. » (4)
- it was a very creative studio space, but very crowded. the air ventilation didn"t work properly when needed for the first part of the semester. the workshop i great.» (5)

14. What is your opinion about the administration and coordination of all the events from registration to final presentation?

46 svarande

1»		3		6%
2»		4		8%
3»		24		52%
4»		11		23%
5»		4		8%

Genomsnitt: 3.19

- Havn"t got any information during this spring. » (1)
- complicated» (1)
- The administration in jan, was awful. No clear direction to whom or what to sign and where to sign in. Very frustrating that Ana Betancour was not present to answear questions.» (2)
- Still a lot of uncertainty around what is to be delivered where, and why almost all things had to be passed through the examinator for feed-back.» (2)
- Administration seems to be something Chalmers Architecture has a great difficulty with. Morten has been fine with this, but sometimes you would have wanted to know some dates and places for crits a bit earlier. But registrating to the master was difficult, all the administrative people are just pointing fingers at someone else, not me, I can"t help you, i am not responsible for that, speak to her or him, no one seems to have the bigger picture.» (3)
- it"s unacceptable to change dates of important events a week before they happen which happened» (3)
- Unnecessary complicated» (3)
- Det har varit förvirrande med alla varierande/individuella datum som flyttats för mitt-kritik och slutkritik. Men Lena har alltid svarat på frågor så viljan att hjälpa har aldrig saknats, bara tydligheten.» (3)
- Way to complicated. Only the registration and the information around that took us a couple of days to solve: First understanding what to do, than finding different people (who weren"t there) to get signatures, and deliver it in the right place. There has to be easier ways to do this. Make it 100% digital? Another often very confusing thing is the big difference in routines and schedules for the different studios. Is there a way to coordinate and have a more strict schedule with common reference points for everyone it would make life easier for the students and make information more trustworthy. » (3)
- I think it was quite good, apart from the fact that we got our examination date quite late in the process. I wasn"t in that case, but I know that two students were told very late that they would get their examination one week before what it was expected to be, which was quite bad. I got my midterm one week before most of students but I was told long time before so it was not a problem.» (4)

Exhibition and public presentation and censors’, roll

15. What is your opinion about the value of the public presentation?

46 svarande

1»		2		4%
2»		0		0%
3»		17		36%
4»		10		21%
5»		17		36%

Genomsnitt: 3.86

- I had a very good censor and that I am very glad for. The exhibition seemed like a joke. Look at other schools to learn how to do. » (1)
- my censor seamed very bored, he didnt looked at the project before and didnt listen to my presentation» (1)
- Ett avslut» (3)
- Interesting and a good time to invite your parents, but they also feel like an extra thing that only has to be done. » (3)
- In a work perspective, the examination has more value to me, because it is the actual day when you know whether you succeeded or not. To me the public presentation is really more about the assessment of the school by the censors and seeing each others" work, it is more exhibition related, which is of course really nice.» (3)
- The value for me personally was good. First presentation before an external person was in the final presentation and exhibition and the critique was good. I also want to stress the final presentation as a ceremony rather than an examination. In this case it was hard since grade of passed or failed was still not outspoken. » (3)
- I think the public presentation is a good way to present the work of the institution for an audience. It should be highlighted to the younger students and encouraged, if not obligatory to attend presentations. » (4)
- För min del var det en positiv upplevelse. Det enda jag kan kommentera på är att lärarna/examinatorerna har varit mycket nervösa över att de blir bedömda. Och den oron har de i vissa fall fört över på oss.» (4)
- It is a nice event, even though I can question the role of the censors. To judge the school yes, but to critisise people who have already passed in front of the friends and relatives?» (4)
- it"s great to get the opinion of "outsiders", who might have some new perspective on your work, and differing points of view. » (4)
- Very important!» (5)
- It was vereygood» (5)
- absolutely super important and valuable...the highlight of the process» (5)
- Great to see the other students work and to invite friends and familiy.» (5)
- It was an extremely positive experience to get to present to both censors and other students, as well as being able to have friends and family come and listen.» (5)
- Very important, but it should be visible to the whole city and be displayed more than three days! » (5)
- Fun to be able to invite friends and family. Moment to show what we learned and to celebrate. » (5)

16. What is your opinion about the organization of the exhibition?

46 svarande

1»		2		4%
2»		5		10%
3»		8		17%
4»		17		36%
5»		14		30%

Genomsnitt: 3.78

- Worst exhibition layout ever! Only confusing and difficult to grasp. The graphical design of posters, colour coding, catalogue etc is a joke! It is something stuck in the 90"s and definitely not worthy the level of our works.» (1)
- Tabita did a good job - but there really needs to be done something else than the grey boards. Isn"t this supose to be a school of architecture? Then do a good architectural display for the exhibition.» (2)
- The people involved did what the could and did it could, but I think it is a shame that Chalmers architecture does respect the presentation of its Master Thesis works more. As an example the fourth year U+A DL project presentation hung in the atrium for almost two weeks, while the MT-works got four days.» (2)
- there are bad places and good places» (2)
- the organization in itself was probably fine, people seemed to be working hard and be committed. but the overall image and the exhibition has some very great problems, if we want it to be perceived as a serious exhibition. it is such a missed opportunity! we have worked so hard all semester, and our work deserve to be presented nicely. the graphic material (posters etc) have to represent what is being presented in the exhibition! perhaps chalmers should look to other ambitious schools of design or architecture for inspiration about final exhibitions. also it should not open on a tuesday at 14.00 when NO ONE can attend. make it an event, make sure the information about the exhibition reaches the public, advertise it in newspapers or posters around the town etc. and make sure it LOOKS like a serious final exhibition, in terms of graphic material etc.» (2)
- the organization was good. the graphic layout and pr and accessibility to the public was EXTREMELY poor.» (3)
- Mainly it was good. But I think there are two things regarding the final presentation that can be drastically improved. 1. Coordinate deadlines so the plotters are not in use for three different courses as well as the MTs the last night before the exhibition (and leave some extra ink in the printer rooms, the printer in the V building was out of yellow ink at 19 hrs) and 2. make nicer posters for the exhibition. Make a competition for the other years to make the posters with a nice price! It is a shame that we work so hard and then the adverstisement is so bad.» (3)
- A mix-up on the screens. The grey screens are a bit dull. Maybe some more spring-colours on the whole exhibition, instead of the blue, brown and green. » (3)
- The catalogue was uncomprehensible because the timetible was all mixed up.» (4)
- I think Tabita did a great work with what she had. But I think what she had to work with could be a lot better. The office dividers look really unprofessional. The graphic layout of the exhibition was not meeting the standars either. And also the arrangement, why not just have straight lines?» (4)
- Better to have the presentations in 2 days instead of 2.5.» (4)
- Tabita did a great job!» (4)
- Well organized. Maybe not the most thrilling design, but that was mainly because of the limited space.» (4)
- everyone could see that a lot of energy was put into the exhibition. Tabita took it very seriously and was so helpful» (5)
- Tabita is great, there is nothing that can"t be solved.» (5)
- Well organised, I just had to come and pin my posters. One box to put my model and sketchbooks was missing, but the exhibition"s staff fixed it immediately.» (5)
- Tabita har gjort ett bra jobb. Hon ställer upp om man har frågor på ett föredömligt sätt.» (5)
- Tabita was extremely helpful and made sure everything was perfectly set up. » (5)

17. What is your opinion about the presence of a censor at your presentation?

46 svarande

1»		2		4%
2»		2		4%
3»		11		23%
4»		10		21%
5»		21		45%

Genomsnitt: 4

- why are the censor critizing us again when the critic is not towards us but to the examinors? can"t they talk afterwards?» (1)
- it is a very good idea with a sensor but they have to be interested not just bored » (1)
- Ingen stor mening för studenten har redan fått kritik i slutkritiken. » (2)
- the role of the sensor was not very clear. the sensor critizised my Project rather than ask about my process.» (3)
- Our censor had not bothered to read our poster, which was very bad I think. Otherwise I think that the precence of a censor is really important. But we should, as well as the censors have a clear understanding of what is experted from them. » (3)
- To judge the school yes, but to critisise people who have already passed in front of the friends and relatives? » (3)
- I think it was more focused on assessing the school than on giving comments on the individual work, which was after all the point.» (4)
- Very interesting discussion.» (5)
- my censor was relevant for my work, very good choice» (5)
- Interesting to hear their comments afterwards about the school. Perhaps their role should be better explained and not making us terrified of them when they in reality are nice. » (5)
- It is sad that students in the Urban studio are prompted to lie about the amount of tutorials they have received. Apparently, the censor should think that we met with the tutors every other week, except that the real number was 8 times in 22 weeks. And that includes introduction, mid-crit and final crit.» (5)
- My censor was very well-suited for my thesis topic and asked relevant questions.» (5)
- It gave the occassion an air of seriousness (in a good way!). The censor Margarita Green acted extremely professional and gave excellent feedback. If possible invite her again! The only thing was that is seemed to make the examiner very nervous which also made the students a bit insecure. » (5)

18. Was the plenum meeting with the censors of value for you?

44 svarande

1»		2		4%
2»		3		6%
3»		19		43%
4»		12		27%
5»		8		18%

Genomsnitt: 3.47

- He mostly asked about the work environment» (1)
- no» (1)
- it would have been of more value if the teachers had not been present, as i understood it many students wanted to offer their view of how things had really happened, but felt they couldn"t as the teachers were there. also, no one knew what kind of meeting it was or what was to be expected, as this was not informed about. it would have been more interesting to get an idea about how the censors perceived chalmers.» (2)
- What plenum meeting? Didn"t get any information about it at all.» (3)
- Didnt attend» (3)
- I think it is nice to hear their conclusions, but the value is more for the teacher"s staff and future master"s students.» (3)
- Good, but I think that the teachers shouldn"t come to that meeting since many felt like they couldn"t realy tell the truth with them in to room. » (4)
- very interesting discussion...BUT very interesting is the fact, that teachers can be present during censors-students seminar but students can"t hear anything from the teachers-censors meeting. we felt pressure having teachers during censor meeting» (4)
- They had good comments - and Chalmers really need to improve.» (4)
- It was interesting to hear opinions from people outside Chalmers. They were professional and seriusly interested in our (the students) opinions. Gave rise to discussion of hot topics. It would have been interesting as a student to hear the teachers response and the disussions from the following meeting with the staff. Some kind of sum up, preferably in an email. » (4)
- This is very valuable and therefore I do not approve of teachers/tutors/proffessors from Chalmers being present at this occation since their precence affect the discussion with the censors. » (5)
- Very very helpful and nice to have an external opinion about the work and to be able to have a conversation without it being a critique type situation. » (5)

19. As you know the role of the censors is to assess the whole school, what is your opinion about it?

45 svarande

1»		1		2%
2»		3		6%
3»		10		22%
4»		13		28%
5»		18		40%

Genomsnitt: 3.97

- Ingen» (?)
- He asked very leading questions» (2)
- we have to see what they produce in other schools and critisice our school, there is no evolution» (2)
- Hard to tell if it is good or bad. But the MT´,s give a clear picture of how students are working and what they are working with. And it is good to hear what other people have to say about what you do. Then you can evaluate if you agree with their opinions or not.» (3)
- it is good that the school is assessed. however, that is not what my sensor did during the public presentation.» (4)
- I think they understood quite well the strong points and challenges of the school.» (4)
- i think that"s good, but the censors took a very different approach between them. some read their required questions straight from their list to the students as some questionnaire, others didn"t care about it at all.» (4)
- It is a very important part. Sad that so few people working at the school (teachers, examinators and tutors)were there to listen to what they had to say on the final day.» (4)
- Good and important, if you would just listen to them for once.» (5)
- very important and good strategy...but students shouldn"t be asked questions (e.g. how often did you see your tutor?) with the tutor listening» (5)
- This is good and important in order to maintain a standard of woork produced. It would be interesting however to achieve a summary of their conclusions. However, during several presentations the focus ended on the process (amount of tutorials, etc) which is vital for an evaluation, but not as interesting to listen to for those listening. These questions could have been posed through mail, then they could have been more honestly answered. There have been several students that have been asked to lie and examinors that have lied about the estimated time of a project. » (5)
- I think it is extremely important to take in external evaluation of the school as a whole. But information on amount of supervision, methods etcetera should be handed in anonymously to the censors by the students.» (5)
- Again, a fantastic idea to have the whole school and all the projects be viewed from external viewpoints. I think it is very helpful for both students and teachers.» (5)

Advises from the students

20. What is your overall opinion about the whole process of the master thesis work?

- The studio enviroment has been great, good teachers and tutors. However, everything surrounding the exhibition is below our standard. »
- It was good»
- very time consuming»
- Messy and confusing. The students has no idea about the goals or how to meet them.»
- good»
- Overall a good experience. »
- Good»
- The process in the matter space structure studio has been great. Before starting the thesis it should be clearer what is required, academically, process-wise etc. »
- Kul i början. Sen stressigt»
- It was a high time pressure. »
- Great.»
- Could be organized better. »
- I would have known more about the process beforehand. Also the tutors should have been more demanding and set a higher standard.»
- All in all it has been a good process, but I wish the preparatory courses were better and that much of the theoretical fundament could be done in this phase, leaving more of the thesis time to design. It would also be nice with clearer guidelines of the expectations.»
- there should definitely be some sort of manual what is expected and what"s not acceptable as a master thesis. the amount of work needed and all the studios and both programs should follow it.»
- I have had a great experience while working with the MT, however as many other I have felt that the time frame for delivering such a project was very limited and I could have used much more to prepare and finish better»
- Start early with design. Let it proceed meanwhile the research period. Do and re-do, trial and error is essentail if you wish to reach a proposal. If you want your project to be more of an architectural discussion or investigation, then sod the proposal- push the question and be consistent! »
- Good to be able to design the own process. Would have been good with better supervision during the entire process.»
- It can"t be worse. The school really needs to change. And I thought it was a school of architecture when I started but as I was told in the beginning of my thesis - this is a school were we educate architects, not a school were we teach architecture - I should not have come back to Chalmers if I knew that. »
- good»
- We set more meetings with my supervisor at the beginning than at the end, and I think it was a good structure to get on the right track, I would also send my work by email before tutorings so that we can maximize the actual tutoring"s time. The hardest thing was actually to get started from nothing, to define the topic. I think it would be great to already start officially the semester before. The preparation course is a good way to start to think about it before, but it is at the beginning of the first semester, so there is a gap between this course and the actual start of the thesis. Maybe the studio work of the second part of the first semester could be more thesis-related. I think it would be a good compromise between a 30 credits thesis, in which you can lose a lot of time to find your topic at the beginning, and a 60 credits thesis which can be too long and too overwhelming.»
- Way below my expectations. The information and prepatory bits where OK, but how quality-ensuring documents such as "Guidelines and Recommendations for students concerning Master Thesis work at Chalmers Architecture", later where followed was a joke. The general sense was that there were no time for doing anything properly, And the low ambition from the school regarding the level of the exhibition kind of sums it all up.»
- it was the most funny project I have done at chalmers»
- För min del har det varit en bra upplevelse om en väldigt stressande.»
- Could be better»
- It is puzzling that there has to be such disorganization and that students seem to have to worry about not only their work (which is normal) but also what is expected of us, when the next tutorial will be, how to write a rapport etc. Certain practical information should be more clearly provided to make the work a little less needlessly stressful.»
- Badly organized, especially the final exhibition and the lack of graduation ceremony or such. »
- Pretty fine, but there should be better information about supervisors, what to hand in, how and when. The public exhibition should be a big event for the city and advertisement for chalmers and not just be open between 8-17 in 3 days. »
- Ok»
- Be more planned, send out more information. This would releaf a lot of the stress and pressure from us students. On the Architecture programme it is said that we should be given examiner and tutor, but when I emailed Ana Betancour about it, asking who would be suitable for me as I worked with shools, she said that she doesn"t appoint examiner/tutor, we have to give suggestions ourselves. But if you don"t know who to choose from this is difficult. Sen out a list of the available examiners/tutors so that they know who they can choose from. And be clear about that the school does not appoint examiner/tutor, students need to do it themselves. »
- I thought it was hard to grasp the difference between a regular studio approach and a master thesis and what the institution expected from me. In the very end I realised that the differnece wasn´,t that big. That notion in an earlier phase had helped me a lot.»
- chaotic. so many people felt really bad from it. this is failure of the whole course in general, i think. there are extremely few people who work under such stress and psychological pressure in their professional architectural lives, so there is no reason the architecture education should be this way. there"s a very unsound self image within the architecture program, and often very vague goals or requirement. »
- Could be alot more clear, with information from school, from the beginning to the end. The studio should show the students more interest and support and be more teamwork oriented during the process.»
- I really appreciate that you can choose your own topic and decide if the final result should be design- or textbased, focused on a result or on the process. As the censors said this is both a quality and a weakness. I think it is essential, it is important to show that the architects work can be a number of different things and one is not more valuable that the other. This is something that could be emphasized earlier in the education as well, and be the real "trademark" of Chalmers Arkitektur. »

21. What was good and should be preserved?

- The examiner should been esear to contact»
- great supervision »
- the mid term seminar»
- In the MSS studio we have had several mid-critiques, which has been really good. »
- The many techers attending the midtermseminar was excellent. A lot of help and opinions.»
- Mid seminar, graduation party.»
- Sensors»
- In the matter space structure studio the meetings with tutors and the critique seminars where very extensive and they came with a short timespan between eachother and should stay that way.»
- I really enjoyed the matter space studio as it was.»
- the structure, preperation course, midterm, finalsem, exhibtion...»
- I sat in a smaller space with two other students which was a lot less stressful than in the large studio. We also had an extra seminar which was good.»
- I was lucky to get tutorials once a week, that was great!»
- Exibition was very nice, also having international critics.»
- The seminars and a close relationship with the supervisor.»
- public presentation, exhibition, censors, freedom of choice of your own topic»
- Information, evaluation, mid seminar, exhibition, and possibility to meet and have tutoring »
- Tabita and Peter are heroes, they are so important to the school and the students! The same goes for Erik, who came late nights to help with the printers!»
- The Leadership-course!»
- Nothing except the good work spirit from the students. People relly make an effort - but the school gives nothing back. »
- the different studios and having more deadlines as in the matter space studio.»
- The freedom in exploring what you want to. In my case, really good supervision with a supervisor very well related to my field of study.»
- The aimed structure of the Master Thesis procedure that was primarily present as a nice ambition.»
- mid term critic, »
- Jag är väldigt nöjd med min handledare och hur hon hjälpte mig att strukturera mitt arbete. Öppenheten i studion och ens klasskompisars vilja att hjälpa varandra.»
- The external censors, the exhibition and the public presentations all worked fantastically.»
- The leadership course.»
- Everything ok»
- my tutor and examiner were really great(daniel norell and morten lund)!»
- Mid seminar and comments from examinator, tutor and students.»
- The leadership course and Maja Kovacs. The midcrit. The director of MPDSD, Lena Falkheden and her great skills in organisation and positive spirit. The diversity between the studios. The graduation party!»

22. What was not so god and must be changed?

- First of all, this is a design school. Why can"t somebody with a LITTLE sense of graphic design do the exhibition colours, layout and graphical work? The poster was a joke, ugly and giving the impression that we sketch "cute barns" for master thesis projects (!) How about something that is in line with the level of design, process and research that is actually done in the school?? Something that signals that we"re in 2013 and that there are computers and advanced design methodology? Or at least a decent type font! Secondly, if the school has ANY interest what so ever to reach out to other students, the public, the city, the country or the world, how come there is not a single ad in the newspaper about the exhibition, nor a single poster up in the city? How do you expect people to know that there is an exhibition at all?? And thirdly: WHO is going to show up on an "opening" of a exhibition at 2 pm on a tuesday, or see an exhibition that is only open between 9-5 on a wednesday - friday, apart from students and family?? The public that I believe has a huge potential interest in this exhibition is working in those hours! The opening should be on a friday at 6 pm or something and the exhibition should be open during the WEEKEND! On the other hand, I"m pretty sure these are problems that has been announced so many times before by students at the school, and nothing has happened before. You obviosly have no interest whatsoever to reach out to the public, to show our hard work in the studios. Just take a look at HDK or Konstfack or any other design school and LEARN! Or go abroad, to Bartlett or AA or ETH or any other architecture school, and see how important the final exhibition and show is at those schools! This is such a great opportunity for a platform between the public, the world, future potential employers and the student that you miss completely! I am not saying this to complain about Tabita or any of the students that has put a lot of effort into the exhibition. This problem is much bigger, its in the whole structure and fundamental structure of the school. Realize that you are a part of a global architectural discourse and start acting like you want to be a part of it!»
- more meetings between the studio to get a bigger understanding for other students work.»
- All students has to be entitled to more framework and guidelines for what an mt is! It is not sustainable that 80 students each year reinvent what an mt is and what it has to contain.»
- more information about requirements»
- The overall information about the master thesis and how its done»
- Abroad sensor in midterm seminar. Populist architecture focus.»
- The exhibition should be advetised alot earlier and more extensive. It is very important to us that our hard work is accessible to future collaborators, employers etc. Instead of closing one hour earlier towards the end, the wood workshop should close one hour later.»
- The exhibition, the office dividers and the graphic design, and couldn"t it be exhibited more public? Like at Rhöska?»
- I think that is good that there are so many different kinds of project and that we are allowed to do differetn things, biut that the teachers should tell you ealier what is expected from you and if the thesis is moving in a wrong direction that they should tell you that earlier. I have never been doing researchers like these and I felt vey lost many times in what I was doing and what was expected of me. »
- The information about the process of the master thesis beforehand, maybe a course go through others processes and a good way to manage the time over the thesis. Where should you be at a certain time. Also the tutors should have some overview of the time to be able to tell you if you are behind time-wise or should work more for example in the early stages or so.»
- the graphic layout and pr and accessibility to the public for the final exhibition was EXTREMELY poor. The exhibition was too short.»
- Make sure everyone that works alone has a reference group even though they don"t want it at the beginning. Also, the work environment in the studio was a bit closed, it was not so easy to get help or feedback from class mates. This should be encouraged more.»
- unclear information about the process, final thesis requirements»
- more room to work in, additional computers, probably more preparation on how to write academic work»
- How can the school guarantee that all studios have external examinors at the mid seminar and examination? And also agree when to inform the students that they have passed. »
- The disrespectful behaviour of some of the examiners. Perhaps they need to have a smaller workload.»
- Everything from how to prepare for a thesis to the supervision, the studio work, the work space, the opening hours of the workshop, the teatchers - please get some new ones - to the whole idea of architecture presented at Chalmers. This could be a school of architecture, but as it is now it is not. »
- the administration»
- Maybe the examination"s hand-in could be the same day for everyone? It would be more fair and less confusing because it could be set from the beginning. It could be nice to show in your diploma what was your main field of study during the master: as a MPDSD student you obtain a master of science, but you get very different expertise whether you choose to look more into social or environmental sustainability. By looking at my degree, a future employer does not know that I am specialised in social sustainability and not in green buildings for example.»
- Almost all. I think the school should seriously question the method of the urban studio in general. I mean scarce tutorials, complete disrespect of the guidelines, uncertainty and anxiety as a mean of motivation/progress, last-minute schedule changes and hand-ins, telling people to lie before a censor?! Repulsive and counter-progressive. Get serious and follow set rules to strengthen future swedish architecture as a whole and take back respect for the profession by doing things the right way. And put some money into the exhibition of it all! It is the pinnacle of a student"s studies. Make it show! »
- we need more knowledge about how to write master thesis. »
- Hur administrativ information informeras i form av brödiga texter, med versaler och utropstecken som bara stressar och förvirrar.»
- The simple, practical information that must be the same every year should be collected into one document to provide a starting point for students beginning on their master"s thesis work. It should also be clear what will be expected of students at certain fixed points - mid term seminar, final seminar etc. »
- The organization, method and execution of the final exhibition. It is truly embarrassing for a school of architecture to fail so utterly in making and managing an exhibition. We, the students have put so much work and effort into our thesis"s and it felt so sad when the exhibition was so poorly managed. Who were supposed to attend an exhibition at working hours and how could no body in the profession know about there being an exhibition. Not even SBK were informed about the fantastic thesis"s that touched on subjects so relevant to them. Also the quality of some of the tutors must be questioned. some of them are not so good. »
- See above.»
- The schedule for everything was a bit unclear, the hand in, mid term, final presentation. A better organized schedule from start would help and my energy can be put on the task instead of searching for information about when e.g. final hand in is.»
- see previous answers»
- There should be a more active and supportive presence of the examinator and tutor during the whole process. They could come and visit where we work at least one time during the semester for example.»
- The administration should be simplified. The supervisors and examiners need to have common guidelines and preferrably common prepcourse (maybe integrated with the students courses?) to reach understanding of what the thesis could be, what is required and what their roles are. When it comes to the last part, when you are "passed with conditions" there has to be a strict framework for how these "conditions" should be asked for and presented. I have seen dozens of different versions of this process and some are really bad. First of all I think it is essential to get the the conditions in written form so everyone agrees on what to do. After that it is neccessary to get a deadline for when these should be delivered. This is also related to the organisation of the final seminar. For us the seminar was good and well organized, but the "talk" afterwards with exainer and supervisor was a disaster. They were both stressed, no even time enough to sit down, and were just shouting out all the negative things about the thesis and all the things that we missed and did wrong. Not stuctured, not constructive, not professional and definitely not respectful. At first the examiner didn´,t even think it was "neccessary" that we got the conditions written. "Just write down what I say now" (while packing the bag for the next meeting). Here I think there is need for some kind of guidelines for how that meeting should be structured. First of all it should have a reserved time in the schedule. Secondly, this is the meeting that is absolutely most important for the students during the whole work, the evaluation of your work, that should be carried out professionally and with respect. It would also be interesting to hear what topics the discussion with the jury was touching upon. »

* obligatoriska frågor