Course: Graduation challenge credits: 60

Content of the course component: In the final year of your studies, we challenge you through a 'graduation challenge ' (60ec) to design solutions for complex practical issues that arise in our professional field of work, in interaction with fellow students, professionals and supervising lecturer-researchers. You use your investigative skills capacity, and you realize impact for your graduation organization, so that you visibly add value in professional practice. 
  
The year in a nutshell  
(see the graduation manual for a more detailed explanation) 
For your graduation challenge, you will already start looking for a professional organization for your graduation challenge in semester 5 and 6, during semester 4. During this process you are looking for a complex practical issue that is relevant to the organization. 
 
Based on a clear diagnosis, you define a final professional complex issue in the first weeks of your challenge in a challenge plan. In this plan you describe the choices you propose for the methodological design, approach, phasing and realization of the graduation challenge. You then delve further into the available theoretical knowledge that is relevant to the issue and combine this into a knowledge product that you add to your portfolio as a data point. You also share this knowledge product with your field supervisor and colleagues. 
 
Your research skills will be demonstrated in the design-oriented research that you then conduct. The research results in design criteria and potentially a ' theory of change' for the professional product that will make an important contribution to solving the complex practical issue of the client. You report on your research as a separate data point in your portfolio. 
 
Based on your challenge plan, the knowledge you have gained from theory and the results of your own design-oriented research, you will design and implement one or more professional products during your graduation challenge that contribute to the solution of the issue. Finally, you ensure the optimal impact of your professional product by providing sound advice to your field supervisor. This advice is aimed at a sustainable effect of what you have delivered for the organization. 
 
Conditional aspects 
Your research abilities and the extent to which you can achieve impact in practice are tested separately, linked to a number of specific, medium- stake data points. The assessment of these two aspects is conditional (needs to be sufficient or good) before completing your challenge and are assessed with a Fail, Sufficient or Good. 
 
Course structure: During the graduation challenge, you and several of your fellow students will be part of a Community of Learners (CoL). You use the CoL for your own development and for knowledge sharing and knowledge exchange in relation to the knowledge theme that the CoL chooses to focus on.  You create with your CoL mutual inspiration in the interaction with teacher-researchers and professionals from the professional field. All this with the greater goal; to help the regional and/or international sports and exercise world progress and to get and keep people physically active. 

Assessment structure: During the entire graduation challenge, your own professional development and the final level achieved regarding the five LILOs and solving the complex practical issue based on a design-oriented research approach are central. To this end, you deliver a range of professional achievements within the graduation organization that, linked to the LILOs, you make visible as data points in your portfolio. 
 
Assessment takes place in accordance with the updated assessment policy through programmatic assessment with low, medium and high-stake data points. This assessment is characterized by the following aspects: 

1. Insight into the student's development is created through a mix of different data points; 

1. The data points have been deliberately chosen meaningful activities and achievements that guide your own learning process and provide insight into your development. 

1. The low- stake data points are feedback-oriented and do not have a pass/fail decision. 

1. The medium- stake data points are conditional and are rated O, V and G. 

1. The LILOs form the backbone of the program. 

1. There is a constant dialogue about the student's use of the collected feedback for self-direction. This requires that you are able to ask for and give feedback, and use the feedback received for your own professional development. Programmatic testing means collecting feedback with the aim of learning from it. 

1. The number of data points and the weight of the decision are proportionally related to each other. The agreements on the minimum required number of data points and the preconditions for a number of specific data points (including knowledge product, professional product, progress interviews and peer assessments) that must be delivered at some point during the process are listed below and are described in the Sports Studies graduation manual 2025/2026.  
2. The student's final assessment consists of a holistic professional assessment by both examiners based on the collected data points in your E-portfolio and is the reference point during the oral portfolio assessment that concludes this process.  
   At the end of your graduation challenge, you prepare a decision document in which you reveal your development regarding the LILOs and underlying behaviors to the examiners and provide this with evidence and reflections. 

Conditional data points 
Some of the data points in your portfolio have been determined by the program (see point 5 above) and are therefore mandatory in order to successfully complete the graduation challenge. The student makes a final proposal in the challenge plan before the deadline of these data points (excluding the deadline for the challenge plan itself): 

1. your challenge plan, 

1. a self-compiled knowledge product, 

1. the design-oriented research report, 

1. The professional product that contributes to a possible solution to the complex practical issue, 

1. advice for the client that contributes to sustainable impact and, 

1. 2 self -assessments which you plan and prepare in consultation with your supervisor with the self -assessment form.

Literature and any costs: -