Recommendations Regarding the Organisation of the educations at INS Lars Andersen Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering Union Representative, Engineering Society in Denmark Member, Education & Evaluation Forms Committee

Motivation Current educations are very expensive and the workload for the students is very high Many small courses with final exams reltated to 1, 2 or 3 ECTS Many confrontation hours, especially early the semester, leave little space for studying More lectures than other universities in addition to the project Expensive model with low level of robustness High workload for teachers Many small activities demand much more than a few large activities Educations with small intake often leave to the supervisor/lecturer to teach the students at a minimum cost AAU model is not easy to understand for students coming from abroad Projects are very large and encompass several courses Courses are very small in terms of ECTS

Motivation In the future, educations should ... keep the AAU model (problem and project based learning organised in groups) leave more space for the students to study leave more space for the staff members to carry out research make room for variation of the teaching and evaluation formats make room for optional subjects be robust

Main structure of the educational programmes The “15+5+5+5 model” for a standard semester: One project module of 15 ECTS Three course module of 5 ECTS each A few remarks: Projects may look slightly more like courses, e.g. including a few lectures Courses may look more like projects, e.g. arranged as a mini project Some semesters may look different, e.g. the final semester Learning outcome: Must be specified in terms of knowledge, skills and competences Must be specified for the education as well as each module

Project modules AAU model – problem and project based learning organised in groups 15 ECTS (typically) 4 – 6 students (typically) Theoretical and organisational aspects All group members must be involved in the process All group members must “know everyting” One (1) supervisor Only one supervisor present at the examination Only one person responsible for assisting with the organisation Group or semester consultants may assist the supervisor Learning outcome (knowledge / skills / competences) must be ... specified for each field of theory Specified for the organisational work Projects can be interdisciplinary with mixed groups from more educations Projects on more educations can have a common theme

Project modules Education forms Peer-learning Group supervision Class supervision Introductions Status seminars / pin-ups Workshops Excursions Organisation Supervisor must do research in a field related to the project Study plan must be revised each year

Course modules Basic modules Common for more educations Mathematics, physics, mechanics, electronics etc. Speciality modules Specialised courses for one education May be joint partly between more educations, e.g. with 3 ECTS in common Optional modules Basic or speciality modules from other educations A number of ”free slots” must be present in each curriculum Can be used to upgrade from one education to another

Course modules Education forms Lectures Study circles Student symposiums Problem solving Workshops Excursions Miniprojects Week assignments (or 14 days assignments) Question session Case studies Organisation One lecturer is course responsible Combination of different forms should be used

Evaluation forms Project modules Final examination in ”standard form” Running evaluation by consultants Course modules Written exams Standard writtens test (1 – 4 hours) Multiple-choice tests Use of IT Oral exams Running evaluation Evaluation by portfolio