Our project-based bachelor’s thesis was commissioned by Oulu UAS’ School of Health and Social care. The final product of our bachelor’s thesis is a web-based learning material in website form for biomedical laboratory science degree students to perform clinical fecal analysis. The website contains the essential information about the most common fecal pathogens in Finnish clinical microbiology laboratory context from a biomedical laboratory scientist’s point of view. The web-based material was produced to support self-learning within the student community in the biomedical laboratory science programme. The material needed to be clear, easy to read and accessible with ease. There is a clear demand for this web-based material because our facilities do not meet the requirements needed to handle and dispose of the pathogens involved in fecal matter.

In our thesis we extended our knowledge of clinical bacteriology methods and pathogens. Additionally we familiarized ourselves with reference material on production of learning material. We began working on our thesis by collecting up-to-date publications from top of the line international and national sources on fecal pathogens, culture practices and quality control.

We collected feedback from our product’s target group – the students – especially focusing on the usability and clarity of the product. We made modifications and improvements to the product based on this feedback. During the thesis process we also received some valuable feedback from our supervisors and opponents who were also students in the biomedical laboratory science pro-gramme. According to the feedback we received, the product was deemed useful and easy to use. The product was considered to be clear and helpful with the students’ self-learning. The pictures and videos alongside written instructions added to the practicality and interest of the product.

As a consulting professional, a biomedical laboratory scientist should be able to instruct other healthcare professionals, so this web-based material can be used as an example of producing educational material or one’s master’s thesis especially as a web-page. Because our thesis product is in webpage format, it can be easily updated and edited to serve the students better as the field of clinical microbiology progresses and changes focus.

Additionally, web-based learning material creates opportunities both for the degree programme as well as the students as it offers an alternative to classical lecture-based learning. Web-based learning is heavily self-directed learning so it might offer a better alternative to lectures and less interactive learning environments.