Modes of Study
The Finnish university education system differs from the many
other higher education systems in its organisation. At the University
of Helsinki, it is possible to accumulate credits in a number
of different ways.
Students may earn credits by attending lectures,
taking part in seminars, taking examinations based on the course
syllabus as independent study or writing essays as agreed with
the teacher. Below you will find some of these options explained
in detail.
Lecture Courses
A lecture course (luennot, luentokurssi) normally ends with a final examination where participants must answer to questions based on the course syllabus. The final examination is sometimes in the form of an final essay. This should be discussed and agreed with the lecturer. N.B. Credits are not given for just sitting in class, i.e. the student has to pass the final examination in order to obtain the credits.
Faculty Examinations
It is possible to complete almost all the study-units by taking written examinations called Faculty examinations (tiedekuntatentti) on the dates listed here. In Faculty examinations students are tested on the relevant course syllabus. If the student does not know Finnish or English well enough to attend regular lecture-courses, taking Faculty examinations might be the most relevant form of study. Students are usually expected to produce essay-type answers, solve problems or give definitions in the examinations. Students may fairly freely choose the examinations to be taken.
Seminars
In seminars (seminaari) students write an essay, or a short research paper, which they present to the seminar group. Each student also has to act as an opponent for one of his or her fellow students presenting their paper. Attendance at the seminars is usually compulsory. The credits assigned to a course indicate the amount of work students are required to do. This means that lecture hours, independent studies and possible exercises are all added together and the total is indicated as the number of credits.
Essays
It is also possible to write essays for professors, but this should be individually negotiated with the examiner. This mode of passing examinations is not encouraged, and the examiners have no obligation to accept essays. The normal ways are lecture-courses and Faculty examinations.
As for the general content and structure of essays, you can see the guidelines on essay writing of the Department of Social and Moral Philosophy (pdf-file).
Portfolios
Some departments have also other ways of study, like portfolios. More information on these can be found at the web site of the relevant department, for instance, see guidelines on portfolios of the the Department of Social Psychology (pdf-file).
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