Studying at a Danish University JANUARY 2011 Henrik Bødker, Phd. Associate Professor, Director Department of Information and Media Studies & Centre for University Studies in Journalism

Why in Denmark/Abroad?  To get an experience that differs from what one could have had at home  Culturally, Socially and Academically  This, ideally, will add perspectives and increase abilities/modes of learning

Agenda  Learning- or studying style(s)  Student-teacher relationship  Exam Types  Succeeding  The Grading System  Tools to Help You

Different Values/Approaches  Learning to Reproduce Knowledge?  Exam and grade Oriented? OR/AND  Learning to Reflect upon and Produce Knowledge?  Process Oriented?

The Danish University Environment  Egalitarian and Democratic ideals  Many Students Tend to Be Critical and/or Anti-authoritarian  Casual Student-Teacher Relationships, Ways of Addressing Each Other, and Ways of Dressing  High Degree of Fairness in Examination: Co-Examiners (either internal or external); and a Formal System of Reappraisal

Some Characteristics of the Culture at Danish Universities  A Relative High Level of Teacher/Student Communication (at least that is often a goal)  Student Group Work both in and Outside the Classroom  Student Presentations in Class  Critical and Analytical Approaches  Relaxed Schedule with Time to Reflect  Informal BUT Punctual  Research Oriented  Application-based Learning  Interdisciplinarity  Up-to-date education

Common Exam Types in Denmark  Written Assignments (e.g. a paper of a certain length to be written within a set period — e.g. 24 hours, 7 days)  Written Projects on a Topic of the Students’ own Choice to be handed in at a specific date  Sit exams (e.g. 4 hours)  Oral Exams  Written + oral (presentation and discussion of written projects)

What Does it Take to Get Good Grades? What is Measured in General? What are the Specific Course Goals?

Knowledge  Production — and Not Only Reproduction — of Knowledge  An ability to engage critically with and reflect upon the knowledge acquired during the course  An ability to apply, contextualize and move beyond the knowledge acquired during the course  An ability to formulate relevant questions in relation to the knowledge acquired during the course

“Problemformulering” in written assignments  Directly translated: “Problem formulation”  — a way of asking and answering study and/or research questions  Instead of asking what do you know, you are expected to formulate what you want to know, and how you intend to progress towards that knowledge  Example: “In this paper I will discuss some of the ways in which the ideals of ‘public service’ are challenged by increasingly multicultural audiences and transnational relations. First, I will take a close look at the different terms...”

Important Student Qualities  Self-motivation, self-reliance  Few classes, learning outside the class-room  Students are expected to engage actively with the assigned material  Initiative, dialogue  Important to ask questions, ask for advice if necessary, clarify teacher expectations  offer feedback at mid-term evaluations — this will not count against you in the final exam!  Negotiating skills, social intelligence  Central role of group work/study groups

Globalisation, Culture and the Roles of the Media Excerpt from the Study Guide (Regulations): In assessing student performance it will be evaluated to what extent the student understands the main theoretical positions with regard to media, community and culture is able to analyse and discuss the relations between media, culture, politics, social relations, consumption and commerce on both a micro and macro level is able to engage critically with a range of theoretical positions and media forms 12

Seven-point Grading Scale The poor performance -3 A performance which is unacceptable in all respects The insufficient performance 00 A performance that does not meet the minimum requirements for acceptance. The sufficient performance 02 A performance with the minimum fulfillment of the course goals for acceptance The fair performance 4 Meeting the course goals to some degree but also some major weaknesses The good performance 7 A reasonable fulfillment of the course goals but also some weaknesses The very good performance 10 Fulfilling most of the course goals with only minor weaknesses The excellent performance 12 Fulfilling the course goals with no or only a few minor weaknesses

Seven-point Grading Scale The poor performance -3 A performance which is unacceptable in all respects The insufficient performance 00 A performance that does not meet the minimum requirements for acceptance. The sufficient performance 02 A performance meeting only the minimum requirements for acceptance The fair performance 4 Some command of the relevant material but also some major weaknesses The good performance 7 A good command of the relevant material but also some weaknesses The very good performance 10 A high level of command of most aspects of the relevant material, with only minor weaknesses The excellent performance 12 A high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material, with no or only a few minor weaknesses

Writing Academically To write an academic essay/paper is to enter into a dialogue or argument with the existing academic knowledge in relation to the issue(s) being discussed. To argue a specific point you must pit academic texts against other academic texts and/or empirical examples. You cannot simply have an opinion, which is not based on specific texts and/or other types of evidence. But this does not mean that you or your points of view are absent. Your task is to reflect on and interpret the texts that you bring into dialogue; and which texts you choose to focus on is, of course, also based on your interpretation and perspective. 15

Writing Academically Academic writing is both more specific and more general than (most) common-sense arguments. It is more specific because it uses a more finely-tuned conceptual system (theory) and applies this to empirical examples and/or other theories; and it is more general because that same conceptual system vocabulary or theory has been been developed over time with the aim of producing knowledge that extends beyond specific examples and contexts (i.e. towards some notion of universality). 16

A Tool to Help You Student Metro: –“The Studiemetro is a web-based resource, and as a student you can find useful information for all levels of your education at the university. –“The contents of the Studiemetro are to be regarded as advice, not instructions. Remember to check with your own department and your supervisor to see if there are special rules or demands that you have to meet” (from the website).

Questions/Comments? Thanks for Your Attention