How to Write a Bachelor Thesis in (APA) Style

Abstract

Bachelor students at the Faculty of Psychology in Bergen are required to write their thesis according to the guidelines of scientific writing by the American Psychological Association (APA). These guidelines provide help with structuring the thesis, describing research methods, reporting findings, referencing, and using a clear scientific writing style. Despite its relevance, teaching the APA guidelines has been considered somewhat boring by both students and teaching staff – largely due to the technicality of the subject. The course project was to re-design the APA course such that students would become more involved. This was achieved, for instance, by exercises in which students had to discover the APA citation rules themselves, rather than teaching them in a lecture style. Subsequent students’ evaluations showed overall high satisfaction with all measured aspects. Possible improvements are discussed.