Programme and Course plan revision in EpN - Faculty of Technology, Art and Design

Must be written in Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and English for all courses. In English only in English-language programmes (ACIT, SMUA).

• A brief introduction to the course. The introduction should be written as a continuous prose and not as bullet points. 

• The introduction should be connected to the learning outcome descriptors and should communicate why the course content is important/interesting, also for people outside the field. The introduction should not be too long. 

• Check if anything in the introduction is actually a learning outcome descriptor. If so, move it to the section about learning outcomes. 

• If your course is given in English only it must be a sentence "this course is given in English", but remember that the student have the right to answer the exam in a Scandinavian language.

Only fill in this field if there is any prior knowledge recommended for the course. This is frequently used at TKD and gives the students an indication of the level of the course. 

• At TKD, this field should say ‘Ingen forkunnskapskrav’ / ‘None’. No prerequisite knowledge is normally required at TKD. The Academic Affairs Committee has adopted some exceptions. If you want to introduce prerequisite knowledge, this must be discussed as a separate item by the Academic Affairs Committee. 

• A common misunderstanding is to confuse prerequisite knowledge and admission requirements. No references must be made to admission or admission requirements in this field.Prerequisite knowledge are absolute requirements and the system will block students who do not meet these requirements from registering. It should not be possible and nor would it be responsible to take the course without the student having this prerequisite knowledge of the subject. TKD therefore recommends using recommended prior knowledge. 

• (Exemptions to this rule at TKD include bachelor’s theses, some courses that require a passed HSE course, and a few courses where the Academic Affairs Committee has found that it is not responsible to allow students to begin a specific course without having completed another course in the subject.

• The stated learning outcome must be realistic and possible to achieve. The learning outcome descriptors should be as precise as possible, and endeavours should be made to use as many active verbs as possible. It should be possible to recognise the course from reading the learning outcome descriptors alone.

• Read more about learning outcomes in the Guidelines for establishing new study programmes at OsloMet and at NOKUT

Standard wordings:
Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Etter å ha gjennomført dette emnet, har studenten følgende læringsutbytte definert i form av kunnskap, ferdigheter og generell kompetanse:’

English: ‘After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:’

This is rarely used with courses and should not contain a bullet list. The detailed content of various lectures, group sessions etc. can be entered in Canvas. 

Under ‘Work and teaching methods’, a brief description should be provided of the educational approach and learning methods used in the course. All courses must include student-active learning methods (included in the number of hours for the course – including lectures, lab work, seminars etc.) The scope of (e.g. number of hours, how) and type of student activities must be described in the course description. The teaching methods should be varied.

Examples of student-active teaching/learning methods (the list is not exhaustive)

Norwegian Bokmål:

• Seminarer
• Oppgaveløsning
• Prosjektarbeid
• Gruppeundervisning/gruppearbeid/gruppediskusjoner
• Selvstudium
• Muntlig/skriftlig presentasjon
• labarbeid
• Caseanalyser

English:

• Seminar
• Assignment wor
• Project wor
• Group teaching/group work/group discussion
• Self-stud
• Oral/Written presentation
• Lab work
• Case study

This includes all types of required coursework/compulsory activities that are conditions for being permitted to take the exam. There is a difference between required coursework and compulsory activities. ​​​​​​

What is required coursework?

• An important contribution to ensuring that students achieve the stated learning outcomes
• A compulsory activity that is not included in the basis for awarding a grade
• Can be written assignments, project work, presentations, practical exercises, tests, and participation in teaching activities
• The coursework requirements must be in proportion to the course’s scope and the total workload
• Assessed as approved/not approved

What should the course description say about coursework requirements?

• A description of the required coursework
• The number of coursework requirements and the scope of each coursework requirement
• The consequences of not completing the coursework / not having the coursework approved

Standard text – about coursework requirements

Norwegian Bokmål:
"For å kunne framstille seg til eksamen må studenten ha følgende godkjente arbeidskrav:

• Arbeidskrav 1:
• Arbeidskrav 2:"

English:
"The following coursework requirements must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Course work requirement 1
• Course work requirement 2"

Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Arbeidskrav/-ene må være gjennomført og godkjent innen fastlagt frist for at studenten skal kunne framstille seg til eksamen. Dersom et eller flere arbeidskrav ikke blir godkjent, gis det anledning til å kunne levere en forbedret versjon (antall ganger må spesifiseres) innen angitt frist.’

English: ‘All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam. If one or more coursework requirements have not been approved, the student will be given the opportunity to submit an improved version (the number of times must be specified) by the given deadline.’

Standard text if there are no coursework requirements/compulsory activities in the course

Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Ingen arbeidskrav» /Ingen obligatorisk aktivitet’

English: ‘No coursework requirements’/ ‘No compulsory activities’

What is a compulsory activity?

• A compulsory activity that is not included in the basis for awarding a grade
• Can be a requirement for participation in teaching activities or practical training. (The requirement is often 80 per cent participation in such cases).
• Assessed as approved/not approved

The following must be included in the course description:

• A description of the compulsory activity
• The scope of absence that can be approved (given as hours, days or percentage)
• Whether and, if so, how the student can compensate for absence in excess of the limit.

Standard text about compulsory activities:

Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Obligatorisk aktivitet må være gjennomført og godkjent innen fastlagt frist for at studenten skal kunne framstille seg til eksamen’.

English: ‘Compulsory activities must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam’.

Example of text (not standard wording) Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Oppmøte i forelesning er obligatorisk. Det kreves 80% tilstedeværelse. Ved fravær ut over 20% må studentene levere inn et alternativt arbeidskrav. Ved fravær ut over 25% mister studenten retten til å framstille seg for eksamen. Begrunnelsen for krav om tilstedeværelse er at studenten ved dette får mulighet til å tilegne seg en kompetanse som både er en del av formålet med emnet, og som studenten ikke kan tilegne seg ved kun å lese pensum og/eller ta eksamen’.

English: ‘Teaching sessions in the course are compulsory. The minimum attendance requirement is 80%. If a student's absence exceeds 20%, he/she must submit an alternative required coursework assignment. If a student's absence exceeds 25%, he/she loses the right to take the exam. The reason why attendance is compulsory is that the student will in this way acquire competence necessary to meet the objectives of the course that he/she would be unable to acquire from solely reading the syllabus and/or taking the exam’.

At EST for example, there are several courses that combine the use of coursework requirements/compulsory activities.

The forms of assessment must be suitable for measuring whether the student has achieved the learning outcomes for the course. 

• There should be a limited number of assessments/exams. 

• The scope of the exam must harmonise with the course’s work and teaching methods, learning outcomes, the number and scope of coursework requirements and other compulsory activities as well as the number of ECTS credits. 

• If a coursework requirement is to be included in an exam, the required coursework must be a reworked version – this must be stated in the course description.

• The course description must state whether the exam comprises individual work and/or whether it is a group exam.

• In courses where the language of instruction is English, it must be stated that the exam can written in Norwegian. 

• If another form of assessment is used for the resit exam, this must be stated in the course description.

Different forms of examination

Written exam

A concluding final exam organised as a written test with invigilators. The exam papers are submitted using candidate numbers, not names. It can be either on paper or computer in Silurveien. 

Oral exam

This form of examination is non-verifiable and there must therefore always be two examiners present. The exam can take the form of an oral test or oral presentation, normally lasting for around 30 minutes. 

Home exams over a longer period

A written assignment that the students work on within a given time frame, normally towards the end of the semester. The topic for the assignment is provided or approved by the person responsible for the course. A home exam can last from two days and up to two weeks. Students are expected to discuss their interpretation of the assignment text and their exam papers with fellow students, even if they answer the exam individually. 

Short home exams

This form of examination was frequently used during the coronavirus pandemic. Here, all aids are normally permitted, with the exception of communication with others. To limit the candidates’ possibility of cooperating with others, it is most natural to set a written assignment (essay or similar). The assignment text(s) should be worded in a manner that minimises the chance of plagiarism and outside help. 

Semester paper

A written paper that the students work on throughout the whole or for large parts of the semester. The topic for the assignment is provided or approved by the person responsible for the course.

Portfolio exam

The course description:

• must specify the form the works in the portfolio should have, the number of assignments and the scope of each part. The student submits all the works in the portfolio at the same time by a given deadline.
• it must be stated whether the whole portfolio or parts of the portfolio must be resubmitted if one or more parts are awarded a fail grade. 
• if any coursework is included as part of the exam, it must be stated that this must be reworked before submission 

The portfolio comprises all or some of the work the student has done throughout the semester. If the portfolio contains selected works, the student him/herself makes the selection. 

The works in the portfolio are not awarded individual grades and are not weighted, but comprise the overall basis for awarding a grade at the end of the semester. If you wish to provide feedback to students during the semester, you must use a form of examination consisting of more than one part. 

Exams consisting of more than one part

In this type of exam, several forms of examination are combined in one and the same course, e.g. one exam part is written and the other oral, or there is one group exam and one individual exam. There can also be two written assignments. This form of examination can be used in cases where it is desirable for students to be assigned separate grades during the semester with different deadlines for submission of the different parts. 

• If grading is carried out at different times, it must be stated when the students may appeal; this is normally after the overall grade has been awarded, and if not, it must be specified when.
• It is recommended that the scope of each part is reduced so that the workload is not greater than if one form of assessment had been used for the course.
• The course description must state whether an overall grade or individual grades are awarded, and how the individual grades are weighted. It must also be stated whether a pass grade must be awarded for all parts in order for the student to pass the course. For this type of exam, the overall grade is automatically calculated in FS.

Standard texts:

• Norwegian bokmål: «Ved ny eller utsatt eksamen kan en annen eksamensform bli benyttet».
• English: «In the event of a resit or rescheduled exam, another exam form may be used.» 
• Alternatively, the other form of examination can be specifically described as ‘oral exam/new assignment with a new deadline/written exam’ etc.
• A standard sentence about appeals must be included. The main rule is that all exams can be appealed with the exception of oral exams and practical training. 
  • Norsk: Eksamen kan påklages/Eksamen kan ikke påklages.
  • Engelsk: The exam can be appealed/The exam can not be appealed.

• It is important that the type of exam aids permitted reflects the form of examination used in the course. For example, browsers are blocked in Silurveien, which means that ‘All aids are permitted’ cannot be used here. 

• Standard texts:

  • Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Ingen hjelpemidler er tillatt.», «Alle hjelpemidler er tillatt så lenge regler for kildehenvisning følges.’, 

  • English: ‘No aids are permitted’ or ‘All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with’. 

  • For short home exams: ‘Alle hjelpemidler tillatt bortsett fra kommunikasjon med andre’ / ‘All aids are permitted accept for communications with others’. 

  • At TKD, some courses permit calculators. Use the following text in such cases:
    ‘håndholdt kalkulator som ikke kommuniserer trådløst, og som ikke kan regne symbolsk. Dersom kalkulatoren har mulighet for lagring i internminnet skal minnet være slettet før eksamen. Stikkprøver kan foretas.’ / ‘A handheld calculator that cannot be used for wireless communication or to perform symbolic calculations. If the calculator’s internal memory can store data, the memory must be deleted before the exam. Random checks may be carried out.’ Alternatively: Kalkulator/Calculator

  • Alternatively, you can specify the permitted aids, such as dictionaries, a certain number of pages of handwritten notes, formula booklet, a specific book. In Silurveien it can be given access to some tools (like Excel) but contact the exam office the deadlines are strict.

These two forms of assessment cannot be combined.

Standard texts:

Norwegian Bokmål: ‘Gradert skala A – F’ or ‘Bestått/Ikke bestått’
English: ‘Grade scale A–F’ or ‘Pass/fail’ 

The course description must describe the use of examiners. OsloMet normally uses two examiners, but TKD frequently uses one internal examiner. When the course description is prepared, it must therefore be considered whether one examiner can be used for the exam in question. Two examiners must be used for oral exams. The same applies to more extensive courses, master’s theses, bachelor’s theses etc.

You can find more information about this in the Guidelines for Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet

This field should be filled in.

Only for EVU-courses (further education studies).

Here you must describe any overlap with other courses. It is important that you fill in this field if the course overlaps to some extent with other current courses or with courses offered in the past.