Courses to be taught in the upcoming semester are entered and edited in the Course Planning Online (EpN).

The process for the course offerings is managed by the Section for Educational Quality, and the departments are tasked with ensuring that course responsible within their units are informed of significant changes and established deadlines. The course responsible holds responsibility for the content and quality of the course, including evaluation and continuous improvement.

Once the course description has been finalized, it is submitted to the teaching coordinator at the department for approval, after which it is forwarded to the program manager for final approval before it's published online.

Note that once the course description has been submitted and approved by the program leader, it is binding. This means that teaching and assessment must be carried out according to what is stated in the course description.

• Annual Cycle

  Annual Cycle

  When	What	Who
  December/July	EpN opens	Section for Educational Quality
  1 February/ 1 September	Course lists are finalized (codes and titles)	Department
  Mid February/September	Course description deadline (varies between departments)	Course responsible
  1 March/1 October	Course descriptions finalized	Department
  March-May/ October-December	Quality assurance process Potential course revisions Programme and profile devel. Administrative adaption (FS, scheduling, etc)	Programme managers Profile coordinators Section for Educational Quality Rest of Office of Student and Ac. Aff.
  May-June/December	Course descriptions published online	Section for Educational Quality

Designing course descriptions

The sections in the course description are referred to in three categories in EpN: main fields, other fields and fields that are not published.

Watch a video for guidance on course descriptions in EPN

Main fields

• Content

  Content

  Provide an overview of what the course is about and what topics will be covered. Depending on the course, it may be useful to provide a description of the breadth/depth.

  The text is aimed at students who are choosing which courses to take and who need an overview of the topics that will be covered and what they will learn.

  If the course has several parts, it is important to provide a description of the different parts.

  Please note that it is not sufficient for the content description to consist exclusively of bullet points.

• Learning Outcome Description (LOD)

  Learning Outcome Description (LOD)

  Learning outcomes are what the student knows, can do, and is able to achieve as a result of a learning process. Expected learning outcomes in a course should form the basis for assessment, and should be described in the categories of knowledge, skills, and general competence.

  It is recommended to have five to ten learning outcomes in total. Each point should begin with an action verb, and include only one verb per learning outcome.

  In the course description, the learning outcomes can be structured as follows:

  Upon completion of the course, the student can:

  Knowledge

  • Identify...
  • Explain...
  • Discuss...

  Skills

  • Apply...
  • Analyze...
  • Demonstrate...
  • Calculate...

  General Competence

  • Explain...
  • Reflect...
  • Communicate...

• Teaching methods

  Teaching methods

  Provide a brief overview of the types of teaching methods used, such as:

  • Lectures
  • Group teaching
  • Case-based teaching
  • Flipped classroom
  • Various forms of digital teaching, etc.

  Active learning is encouraged as part of the teaching methodology. For more information on how to integrate active learning into your teaching, please refer to our guide here.

• Mandatory activity

  Mandatory activity

  Mandatory activity (work requirement) is defined as all activity that must be approved for the student to be eligible to undertake evaluation.

  It is up to the course responsible to decide if there should be mandatory activity in a course. If the course does not have any mandatory activity, it should state "none."

  All mandatory activity should be stated in the course description, and course approvals are rewarded as approved/not approved.

  When designing the compulsory activity, it is essential to ensure that it serves a clear pedagogical purpose within the course. The work requirement must be specific and clearly articulated, and both the number and format of the activities must be explicitly stated in the course description. In cases where participation is part of the work requirement, it must be specified how much attendance is necessary for the activity to be approved. Unambiguous work requirements provide students with the necessary information when selecting elective courses and ensure that there is no uncertainty about whether the work requirement has been fulfilled.

  APPROVAL OF MANDATORY ACTIVITY (WORK REQUIREMENT)

  When the student has met the requirements for mandatory activity, this is marked as approved, and the student is entitled to undertake evaluation. There must be a clear distinction between mandatory activity and evaluation. The approval should normally be registered three weeks before the first part of the evaluation begins.

  Repetition of courses with mandatory activity requirements assumes that the student has a valid approval of the mandatory activity in the relevant course.

  Approved compulsory activities are normally valid until the course changes its assessment format. If the course responsible changes the format, it must be specified in the course description whether the previous compulsory activity remains valid. A similar evaluation must be made if the compulsory activity is altered, as it may in some cases be linked to the assessment. For example, if the compulsory activity involves an approved topic or draft for an assignment.

  If it is desirable for the student to follow the teaching again in order to get a new evaluation (typically courses with portfolio evaluation, group evaluation, or case), it may be appropriate to limit the duration of the approval of the mandatory activity. This can be done by saying that the approval is only valid in the semester it is achieved. This means that the student, when repeating, must undertake all mandatory activity again.

• Assessment scheme and types of assessment

  Assessment scheme and types of assessment

  The overall assessment arrangement is referred to as the assessment scheme, and should form the basis for grading in the course.

  The assessment scheme can consist of one or more elements/types of assessment.

  The form of assessment and mandatory work requirements should reveal the extent to which the student has achieved the learning outcomes in the course.

  In principle, there is a lot of freedom in choosing forms of assessment, but some are more commonly used than others, for example:

  WRITTEN SCHOOL EXAM

  The school exam is an individual, written assessment that takes place under supervision in premises provided by the school. If this is the only form of assessment, the extent is normally four hours.

  School exams are normally conducted digitally, formulated as "digital school exam" in the course description.

  The exam submission may be written in Norwegian, English, or other Scandinavian languages, unless otherwise specified in the course description. If the exam is to be answered exclusively in English, this must be explicitly stated in the course description.

  Access to Software

  Students may be provided with access to Excel or other softwares during a digital school exam. The software must be specified in the section for assessment (vurderingsordning) and must be pedagogically justified in the comment section in EpN.

  Multiple Choice

  If a digital school exam is to consist exclusively of multiple-choice questions, this must be specified in the course description. A brief guide to multiple-choice exams can be found here. For further information, please contact Tatiana Pozolotina at the Section for Exams.

  HOME EXAM

  A home exam is a written form of assessment conducted without supervision and can be completed individually or in groups. If a home exam is to be completed in groups, the group size must be specified as a range, for example, 3–5 students per group.

  The timeframe for a home exam is determined according to the following guidelines:

  Duration	Time of distribution	Time of submission
  From two to eight hours	Earliest at 08:00	Latest at 16:00
  Three to five days	Day 1 at 09:00	Day 3 at 12:00

  The exam submission may be written in Norwegian, English, or other Scandinavian languages, unless otherwise specified in the course description. If the exam is to be answered exclusively in English, this must be explicitly stated in the course description.

  OTHER WRITTEN WORKS

  This category includes written works that are conducted without supervision, but that do not fall into the category of home exam. This may include semester assignments, case work, project assignments, or similar.

  It must be specified whether the assignment is individual or group-based. If it is a group assignment, the group size must be indicated as a range, for example, 3–5 students per group. The scope of the work must also be specified, providing an indication of when students are expected to work on the assignment. For instance, the assignment may be made available at the start of the course, with submission at the end of the semester, or students may be given a timeframe of four weeks to complete the work. Please note that exact submission dates must never be stated, as these are to be determined in consultation with the Examination Section.

  ORAL ASSESSMENT

  For oral school exams, the duration should be stated in minutes. Oral school exams are normally conducted as individual exams.

  Oral assessment also includes other activities such as presentations and active participation in teaching sessions where these are graded. If active participation is used as an assessment method, it must be specified what this entails. For example, participation in discussions. If the oral assessment is to be completed in groups, the group size must be specified as a range, for example, 3–5 students per group.

  By its nature, oral assessment cannot be retested, and the grading cannot be appealed. However, if the oral assessment is recorded and does not involve interaction with the examiners, students will retain the right to appeal, as the assessment can be reviewed by an appeals committee. If such an exception to the main rule applies, this must be specified in the course description.

  PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

  Portfolio assessment consists of continuous assessment where students receive feedback on various tasks they perform during the time the course is taught, and which they can change and improve before possible final submission.

  A central point of portfolio assessment is that the individual works should not be graded, but that the student is given the opportunity to submit one or more works in progress that they receive feedback on with a view to revision or improvement. The portfolio is graded in the end.

  The grade is then for the final product as a whole, where one also emphasizes how the student has developed along the way. As part of the portfolio, the student must submit a reflection note where he/she reflects on self-learning and development. Portfolio assessment can be included as one of several assessment elements.

  Several assessment elements that are submitted and graded along the way, where the works are finally collected and the final grade is calculated as the average of the different parts, are not portfolio assessment. Portfolio assessment presumes that the student's development along the way is included in the assessment.

  ASSESSMENT ARRANGEMENTS WITH TWO OR MORE ELEMENTS

  You can freely combine different forms of assessment in an assessment arrangement, but each element should have its own grade, and you should specify the weighting (in percent) of the different elements. The elements, with weighting (in percent) and the course as a whole, will be visible on the grade transcript and diploma.

  The extent of each part must be reduced so that the overall form of assessment does not become more extensive than the number of study points implies. If a written school exam is one of the elements, for example, the exam time for that element can be reduced to two or three hours.

  • It must be stated in the course description what is individual work and what is group work.
  • The same grading scale should be used on all elements.

  The main rule is that the student can retake one or more parts if they wish. In some cases, it may be practical that all parts must be passed in the same semester - this applies, for example, with group-based assessment and where the assessment is closely linked to the teaching. If all components must be passed in the same semester, this must be specified in the course description.

  Each attempt in one part of the assessment counts as one of the valid assessment attempts.

  IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING AN ASSESSMENT SCHEME

  • You should choose an assessment scheme that effectively tests whether the students have achieved the learning outcomes.
  • The assessment scheme can consist of several elements, see the section above.
  • The design of the exam question(s) must be adapted to the form of assessment. Take into account which aids the student has access to in the exam situation.
  • The exam question should be designed in a way that minimizes the likelihood of cheating. In the case of a home exam, this can, for example, be taken into account by ensuring that:
    • The student must show understanding
    • Different sets of numbers are prepared so that it is not given that the students should get the same answers
  • The assessment scheme for retake exams in a teaching-free semester should be the same as it originally was.
  • Students have the right to justification. For oral assessment, they must present this requirement immediately after the grade is published.

  There is an expressed desire for variation in forms of assessment. You can find more information about forms of assessment in the link below and we are happy to help with the design.

  More about assessment: deadlines, right of appeal, handbook for assessment, etc.

• Retake

  Retake

  The field for the retake arrangement is completed by the Section for Educational Quality and cannot be edited by the departments. If you have any questions regarding the retake arrangement, please contact Karen Reed-Larsen.

  For further information about NHH's retake arrangement, please visit our webpage on exam retakes.

• Access restricted courses

  Access restricted courses

  In some courses, there may be a need to limit the number of students because the pedagogical setup suggests it, and it is expected that more students will apply than there are places available.

  Even if your course has been access-restricted before, you must apply again each semester.

  Due to case processing, courses with access restrictions can start at the earliest on Wednesday in the second week of teaching.

  HOW TO LIMIT ACCESS TO A COURSE?

  • The institute must complete the point about access restriction in EPN, where the justification is stated. It must also be indicated in the comment field that the course is desired to be access restricted. This is considered an application for access restriction. The application will be forwarded to the Admission Section, which will consider it and provide feedback to the institute.
  • The application must contain the pedagogical reasons for access restriction, expected number of students, and information about the number of places.

  WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE THE START OF THE COURSE?

  Teaching week 1:

  The application deadline for students is Monday of this week. The Admission Section processes the cases and sends a reply to the students by Friday of this week.

  Teaching week 2:

  • The Admission Section registers students who have accepted the place for teaching and assessment, and the students get access to Canvas.
  • If there is a waiting list and available places, they will be filled.
  • The course can have its first lecture at the earliest on Wednesday of this week.

  OTHER THINGS TO BE AWARE OF

  If the course does not get enough applicants, it can be opened for regular registration. You will then be notified by the Admission Section. If you are contacted by students who have questions about application and admission, refer them to the Admission Section.

• Syllabus list

  Syllabus list

  For new courses, the syllabus list should be entered in EPN and submitted along with the rest of the course description by the deadline.

  For existing courses, the syllabus list is maintained in Leganto/Canvas.

Other fields

• Semester

  Semester

  It should be explicitly stated in the semester field whether the course will be offered according to the following template:

  "Autumn. Offered autumn 202x" or "Autumn. Not offered autumn 202x", and similarly for spring.

• The teaching language

  The teaching language

  Legal choices are Norwegian or English.

  The teaching language in BØA is Norwegian for mandatory courses and English for electives. In BEDS, the language is English for both mandatory courses and electives.

  MØA and MRR mainly use English, but some courses can be taught in Norwegian by agreement.

• Course responsible

  Course responsible

  Template for filling out the course responsible:

  Title, name, institute. If there are multiple people responsible, a main course responsible or contact person must be specified.

• Overlap with other courses

  Overlap with other courses

  Overlap should be specified with the course code of the overlapping course.

  If there is no overlap with any courses, write "None".

• Exam support materials

  Exam support materials

  The section is mandatory for courses with a written school exam. If the course has a any other assessment format, the field should remain blank.

  Normally, one bilingual dictionary and a calculator are permitted during school exams and must be specified in the course description unless there are academic considerations to the contrary.

  The course description must also indicate the allowed degree of processing for written support material. The permitted support material must therefore be specified, and include one of the following categories:

  Category I - no processing allowed (e.g., dictionaries)

  Category II - processing allowed in accordance with established regulations

  Category III - all written support materials and any degree of processing permitted

  Please note that if the course responsible wishes to allow one textbook, all other written materials and any degree of processing (Category III) must also be permitted.

  For more information about permitted support materials during school exams, see the faculty handbook for assessments and exams and our supplementary provisions.

  Lovdata Pro

  If students should have access to Lovdata Pro during a written school exam, this must be specified in the assessment section of the course description. The legal sources must be specified in the section for permitted support materials for the exam.

  The following digital legal sources are included in NHH's exam-adapted Lovdata solution:

  • Norwegian Acts
  • Repealed Acts
  • Central Regulations
  • Repealed Central Regulations

  If it is desirable to restrict access to specific legal sources, only those sources should be listed. Please contact the Section for exams to clarify any additional details regarding access.

  Lovdata Pro can only be used for closed exams in Lockdown Browser. This solution cannot be combined with Device Monitor, which allows access to external software.

  Whitelisted Websites

  URLs can be whitelisted to provide students with access to specific websites during a written school exam. If students are to be informed of the website in advance, it must be specified in the section on permitted support materials. The Section for Exams will review any requests and determine whether they are practically feasible. If the whitelisted website is intended to function as an attachment to the exam, and therefore remain unknown to the students beforehand, this must be arranged directly with the Section for  Exams.

  Whitelisted websites can only be used for closed exams in Lockdown Browser. This solution cannot be combined with Device Monitor, which allows access to external software.

• Prerequisite knowledge requirement

  Prerequisite knowledge requirement

  If you want a "prerequisite knowledge requirement", the requirement must be specific. A requirement is a rule and no one can start the course without meeting the requirement. The course code must be specified if it is an absolute requirement that the student must have taken the course. If there is a requirement for knowledge, it can be specified instead of the course code.

  Only mandatory courses in the bachelor's program (BØA) may have course codes listed as prerequisite requirements. For all other courses, it is preferred to avoid this in order to ensure that exchange students have access to the course.

  Use "recommended prior knowledge" for other wishes about prior knowledge where the student is not required to have specific knowledge.

  Requirements for completed bachelor's degree are redundant for master's courses.

• Data tools

  Data tools

  Only use the data tools field in cases where you need special tools such as R or STATA.

  It is not necessary to list Canvas and the Office package.

  Find more information about available data tools at NHH IT Service Desk.

Fields that are not published

• Timetable needs

  Timetable needs

  Should be filled out if the course has a different teaching arrangement than two lectures (2x45 min.) per week.

  Special, documented needs (time, specific dates, etc.) should also be noted here.

  If a 7.5 ECTS course is to be taught intensively, it must be justified and recommended by the Department before it can be approved by the programme manager.

• Sustainability

  Sustainability

  Sustainability is a mandatory field in the course description and is used for reporting and accreditation purposes. The course responsible must explain which sustainability-related topics are relevant to the course and how these will be integrated into the teaching. If sustainability is not relevant to the course, this must also be stated. In cases where sustainability is relevant, it must be explicitly reflected in the course content description and learning outcomes.

• Workload

  Workload

  SCOPE AND WORKLOAD

  Credits and number of hours

  The number of credits for a course indicates the size of a course, which indirectly indicates how many hours of work one can expect the average student to use on all activities related to the course.

  A full academic year is standardized to 60 credits, and a semester is thus 30 credits. The Regulations for the Supervision of Education, §2-2 Requirements for study offers1, states that the total workload of the study offer should be 1500-1800 hours per year for full-time studies. This corresponds to a workload of 750-900 hours per semester, and 25-30 hours per credit.

  A norm for the number of working hours in courses of different sizes is given in the table below:

  	Seminars	Half course	Full course
  Number of credits	2,5	3,8	7,5
  Work hours	62,5 - 75	95 - 114	187,5 225
  Work hours median student (approx.)	70	105	200

   

  The estimated number of working hours is given in intervals. The amount of work a student puts into a course can be difficult to predict, as some find some courses easier or harder than others, and the level of ambition can vary from student to student. The median student, referred to above, is to be understood as an average good student who achieves an average good grade.

  Recording of workload

  The distribution of the number of working hours across different activities in a course should be entered in the "Course Description" under the heading "Scope and Workload". This is recorded in the digital course planning tool EPN.

  Methodology

  The teaching arrangement in a course consists of various types of activities, chosen based on what is appropriate for the students to achieve the learning outcomes of the course. The activities can be described as organized forms of teaching and other learning and assessment activities. Examples could be lectures, calculation exercises, group work, assignments, oral presentations, discussions, self-study, etc.

  It is important to take into account both organized and unorganized activities in the calculation of workload, so that a realistic assessment of the students' total workload in the course is obtained.

  The course responsible makes an assessment of how much time it is reasonable for the students to spend on each type of activity. In practice, there will be a great variation between different students here, both in terms of their background and how they prioritize the particular course, but the assessments should be based on a "median student" who normally participates in all organized activities in the course. It should include all the time the students spend on the course, including self-study and work with all the work requirements and forms of assessment in the course.

  Some examples of how to calculate and describe the workload in a course:

  Example 1

  Student activity	Hours
  Lectures	39
  Submission, paper with presentation	15
  Self-study of curriculum	90
  Exam reading incl. exam	60
  Sum	204

  Example 2:

  Student activity	Hours
  Lectures	38
  Group exercises	20
  Submission (2 pcs.)	14
  Self-study of curriculum	49
  Exam reading	85
  Sum	206

  Example 3:

  Student activity	Hours
  Lectures	22
  Group exercises	18
  Instructional videos	6
  Individual assignment submission	15
  Self-study of curriculum	70
  Exam reading incl. exam	70
  Sum	201

  Example 4: 

  Student activity	Hours
  Lectures	4
  Organized group work with guidance	36
  Student-organized group work	36
  Self-study of curriculum	70
  Exam reading incl. exam	50
  Final presentation with preparation	12
  Sum	208