How are studies completed?

A common way of completing a course is to participate in teaching and complete a final examination at the end of the lecture course. Courses can comprise mass lectures for a large amount of students or work in small groups.

All courses are defined as contact, distance, blended, or online teaching, and this form of teaching is reflected in the Course search and course pages of the Studies Service. Blended teaching in this context refers to courses that include both contact and distance teaching. Online teaching does not contain scheduled teaching, but rather all teaching is available as recordings. Courses may also include independent or group work as well as scheduled online or on-site exams regardless of their form of teaching. More detailed information about the definitions:

Contact teaching

• Form of teaching where all teaching sessions tied to a specific time are given with the teacher and students physically present in the same space.

Distance teaching (also known as remote teaching)

• Form of teaching where all teaching sessions tied to a specific time are given with the teacher and students in person in different locations, but connected over remote connections. 

Blended teaching (includes contact and distance teaching)

• Form of teaching where some of the teaching sessions tied to a specific time are given as contact teaching and others as distance teaching.
• All or some of the teaching sessions can be given as hybrid teaching (teacher and students both in person in the same space and attending over remote connections). In hybrid teaching, participation in distance and contact teaching can be defined in advance, or the form of participation can be freely chosen.

Online teaching

• No teaching sessions tied to a specific time. Instead, teaching is offered, for example, in the form of recordings. The viewing of recordings and other activities may be subject to deadlines or, for example, a weekly schedule. 

It should be noted that courses including any of these forms of teaching may also include

• Independent study, which usually has to be completed by certain deadlines or according to, for example, a weekly schedule. Independent study can include reading literature, writing a learning journal or watching educational recordings.
• Groupwork, which can be conducted according to, for example, a weekly schedule, with the meetings typically scheduled independently by the student group. Students can independently agree on whether the meetings are held on site or over remote connections.
• Examinations that can be scheduled and that can be completed remotely or on site. There may be one examination or more.

In some degree programmes some of the studies are completed independently. Instead of lectures, examination questions can be based on required reading, in which case the mode of completion is a book examination. In such cases, students must study the set literature independently and register for the examination to demonstrate their command of the subject.

Examinations can also be taken in digital format, e.g., in the Moodle learning environment or as an Examinarium examination in an electronic exam room.

Other common ways of completing study units include essays, seminars and assignments.

An essay is a piece of writing drafted on a set topic and based on relevant literature. You must begin to learn the conventions of academic writing from the very beginning of your studies.

At seminars, students practice research work, using source material, academic writing as well as academic debate and argumentation in a supervised setting. Each seminar participant will prepare and present an individual seminar assignment.

Some studies involve practical assignments to teach students to apply their skills. Such assignments may involve laboratory work, for example.