The need for an exploratory approach in teaching at Masters level in Higher Education (HE) at Universities of Applied Sciences where partnership with workplaces is developed and Master´s students are strengthened in their roles as future influencers and actors in society, places new and higher demands on flexibility, versatility and pedagogical awareness. The objective is to highlight the function of the Master's programme teacher as bridge builder between students, higher education institutions and workplaces and to identify key apects for successful action in this context.

The topic is based on the results of an explorative case study within the national network project “Creating a strong research and development profile for Master's degree programmes” (2014-2015), funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) in Finland.

The case study “Supervision of Master’s students in groups” is anchored in the sociocultural perspective on knowledge and learning, where theoretical concepts from Lave and Wenger, Bakhtin, Vygotskij and Säljö are fundamental.

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