Hgskolan Dalarna

Instructions for the Opposition

1(2)

Instructions for the Opposition of Degree Projects

Opposition is obligatory for degree projects at the Educational Programs of
Technology and Systems Analysis at Hgskolan Dalarna. Accordingly, you will
be required to actively oppose another persons degree project. The opposition
should be oral as well as written. Each examiner decides, however, how these
instructions apply to the individual case.

Aim of Opposition

Opposition gives you an opportunity to penetrate the work of someone else in

order to evaluate its strong and weak points. This is a situation that you are also
likely to meet as an engineer or a systems analyst.
Another aim of the opposition is to improve the work you are opposing in some
respect before it is finally published.

2 Oral Opposition
Your role as an opponent means that you evaluate the content of the degree
project. You should, however, not only look for demerits. It is just as important to
emphazise the good points.
The oral opposition should be directed primarily towards essentials and questions
of principle. You should not pay too much attention to details and trifles. Such
aspects may be included in your written opposition which will result in an
examination report.
In opposition you should evaluate the following points:
-

presentation of the problem and its significance in a greater context.

logical structure and aim of the project

relevance of the literature referred to

method of collecting information

significance and interpretation of the results

formal structure: disposition and language etc.

the oral presentation of the project

The oral opposition may take about ten minutes and takes place after the authors
have presented the degree project. During the oral opposition, the authors should
also be given the opportunity to comment on the opponents points of view.

Hgskolan Dalarna

Instructions for the Opposition

2(2)

When you are planning the opposition you could consider the following
questions:
- Does the title match the contents?
-

What is the aim of the report?

How is the problem expressed?

To whom, or for what, is the problem relevant?

What kinds of methods have been used?

Are the methods well described?

Are the methods well-chosen in relation to the aims?

Can the information shown be confirmed?

Are the conclusions and the discussion founded on the results obtained?

Is the presentation attractive and correct?

Have the results been influenced by the authors own values?

Where can the work be taken from here?

3 Written Opposition
The written opposition is a complement to the oral one and it should, therefore, be
comprised of points in greater detail. It could involve something that is obviously
incorrect although not of fundamental importance to the degree project. Naturally,
you should also point out the merits of the report.
The written opposition should be presented in the form of an examination report
or a PM, but also as comments and corrections written directly on a copy of the
report. This account will be handed over and commented on in connection with
the oral opposition.
The examination report should when necessary cover:
-

factual errors and unclear information

language errors and indistinct expressions

misspellings and other deviations from English rules of writing

deficiencies in the disposition of the report

inadequate references

criticism of graphic design

In connection with the written opposition, you should make sure that the report
examined complies with Instructions for Reports in Degree Projects.