1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Main structure of the educational programmes
The “ 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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