UTUGradu

Preliminary Examination of a Thesis:

Check the academic writing conventions and references of a thesis, Turnitin control mark, and possible preliminary Turnitin checks (plagiarism check) must be done before initiating the UTUGradu process. A check list for completing the thesis is available for the student(s) in the instructions for students, including naming the file. 

Initiate the examination and approval process (=UTUGradu) of a thesis when you have agreed together with the student(s) that the thesis is finished, meaning changes will no longer be made to it (compare to submitting the printed thesis for examination). After initiating the UTUGradu process, the contents of the thesis should no longer be changed. 

Pay special attention to copyright and publication as well as accessibility matters. You should go through these matters with the student(s) during the guidance and encourage the student(s) to take them into consideration throughout the thesis process. 

Moodle assignments in the supervisor’s Moodle course: PDF/A validator and Turnitin originality check assignments

• Both the Turnitin originality check system and the PDF/A validator work as extra features integrated into the Moodle (virtual learning environment) course. Make sure that you have Moodle course including PDF/A validator and Turnitin assignment (see fig.). If you do not yet have the Moodle course and assignments required for the electronic process, see the instructions on "Requesting a Moodle course area with PDF/A Validator and Turnitin Assignments" from below.
• The student(s) can pre-examine their unfinished thesis in the supervisor's Moodle course with the Turnitin assignment which will not save the submitted thesis in the Turnitin database. 
• Prior to submitting the thesis for the final examination and approval process, the student must convert the thesis into a PDF/A file suitable for long-term storage and validate the file in the PDF/A validator in the supervisor’s Moodle course.  
• When the thesis is ready and successfully PDF/A validated, the student can submit the thesis in their supervisor’s Moodle course with the Turnitin assignment which will save the submitted thesis in the Turnitin database. Therefore in this assignment the thesis should only be submitted once.

Image: Moodle course for the UTUGradu process

When the Moodle course is in order, you can initiate the actual examination process. Proceed to the next step of the instructions by clicking Next at the bottom of this page.

For the student(s) to be able to submit their completed thesis for examination, you must first request a Moodle course for the submission, a PDF/A validator and, if necessary, Turnitin originality check assignment(s). 

• In the UTUGradu process, the PDF/A validation and Turnitin assignment(s) are done on the supervisor-specific Moodle course for the students’ benefit and data protection. Your need to have only one Moodle course where the above mentioned assignments and instructions are available.
• Also other information on the supervising process or graduation can be added to the course. The main thing is that the settings of the Turnitin assignments or PDF/A Validation tool are not altered.

⇒ In order for the submission and examination process of a thesis to work smoothly for the student and in later phases, the creation of the Moodle assignments and courses related to the UTUGradu process is centralised to the personnel responsible for UTUGradu and Moodle support services.

Ordering Moodle course for UTUGradu:

• Open the course request form at moodle.utu.fi/course/request.php.
• When opening the form, you log in to Moodle with your UTU account details.
• Fill in the course request form (see fig.).
  • By clicking the (?) symbol, you see instructions for filling in each section.
  • Course full name = for example, “Turnitin for advanced studies /” + your name 
  • Course short name = for example, “Advanced studies, supervisor “ + your name or initials
  • Course category = select your faculty/unit/subject from the drop-down menu or select the category “Moodle trainings and others / Turnitin”
  • Supporting information = mark “UTUGradu Turnitin assignment” to this field in order to receive the PDF/A validation and originality check assignments for theses.
  • NB. Moodle course can be conducted in Finnish or English language. If course is requested in English language please add this information in Supporting information.

• Finally, click the “Request a course” button.

The General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union authorises and obligates to store data only as long as it is necessary. Therefore, according to the retention policy of the University of Turku, the teacher is obligated to reset their Moodle course i.e. delete the students’ information from the course after the theses have been evaluated, the course is concluded, and after 6 months.

More instructions on resetting a course in the Moodle instructions (In Finnish).