Course Descriptions

All courses at Aarhus BSS are published in the course catalogue. Descriptions of new courses as well as changes/updates to existing courses are collected and published twice a year in accordance with the current deadlines stipulated in the annual cycle for teaching activities at Aarhus BSS. The following describes the process for the ordinary degree programmes.

The process regarding the submission of course descriptions is divided into two parts. The first part consists of the submission of master data. The second part consists of the submission of the textual part of new and changed course descriptions. The two parts are described in the following.

Submission of master data

The first part of the process consists of the submission of master data.

The department secretary collects the necessary data and enters the data in an Excel spreadsheet which is submitted to Aarhus BSS studies.
Master data consists of the following information: Course title, number of ECTS, study programme, department, academic term, location (Aarhus or Herning), form of instruction(s), course coordinator (if known), number of classes and class size, number of hours, teaching period, type of examination including WISEflow-code. Master data is marked with an * in the table below.
Changes to existing master data as well as master data for new courses must be discussed with the director of studies before submission to Aarhus BSS Studies.

Submission of the textual part of the course descriptions

The second part of the process consists of the submission of the textual part of new and changed course descriptions.

New course descriptions:

You submit new course descriptions by filling in this template.
Download the course description guidelines or read them below while filling in the template.
When you have completed the template, please send it to the relevant department secretary, who will forward it to Aarhus BSS Studies.

Changes to existing course descriptions:

If there are any changes to existing course descriptions, you must submit these by copying the latest course description from the course catalogue into a word document, either by simply copy/pasting it or by exporting it to Word through the administrative version of the course catalogue. Then please mark the changes by using “Track-changes”. It is very important that you mark your changes. Changes that are not marked will not be registered or published.
If there are any major changes to a course description, you must attach a brief explanation of the changes for use by the board of studies/director of studies.
Please send the changes to the relevant department secretary, who will forward the changes to Aarhus BSS Studies Administration.

Before you send the changes to Aarhus BSS Studies Administration, please make sure that:

The course descriptions have been proofread in terms of content and language.
English course descriptions are written in British English in accordance with Aarhus University’s language policy.
New course descriptions and any major changes to existing course descriptions have been discussed with the director of studies.
The content of the individual fields in the course descriptions comply with the guidelines listed below.

Guidelines for the content of course descriptions

Download the guidelines to your computer or read them on this page.
Master data is marked with an *. Master data is submitted in the first part of the process and cannot be changed subsequently.

Download the guidelines

Course information

Course title*

Enter the course title in Danish and English, respectively. The Danish title is, however, only relevant if the course is taught in Danish.

The name of compulsory courses may only be changed in connection with new academic regulations.

The course title will appear in the course catalogue and on the student diplomas.

ECTS*

Please state the amount of ECTS that the course is equivalent to. At Aarhus University, all courses offered should be equivalent to an amount of ECTS divisible by five.

The amount of ECTS credits awarded for compulsory courses may only be changed in connection with new academic regulations.

Department*

Please state which department will offer the course. For study programmes that are offered by more than one department, your selection may have an impact on which department will receive the student FTEs for the course.

Forms of instruction*

Please state the form of instruction for the course:

1) Lecture, 2) Classroom instruction, 3) Independent study, 4) Supervision (e.g. for Bachelor’s projects and seminars) 5) Distance learning with seminars

The form of instruction, which is stated on the course, is primarily used for study administrative purposes.
The form of instruction is transferred to the other study administrative systems, where it is used for the class composition of students on the course in STADS, the creation of learning spaces for the course in Brightspace, the timetabling of the course in PLAN and the deployment of questionnaires for teaching evaluation.

This means that both Lecture and Classroom instruction should only be stated on courses where both types of instructions are to be planned and evaluated separately.

A more detailed description of the used teaching methods should be stated in the field Comments on the form of instruction below.

Comments on the form of instruction

Please provide additional comments on the form of instruction. See examples below.

Example 1: Classroom instruction and workshops with presentations, discussions, cases, exercises, supervision and feedback.

Example 2: The teaching will alternate between lectures, student presentations, group work and plenary discussion.

Example 3: Lectures and classroom instruction based on cases and class discussions. The lectures aim to introduce students to the main points of the course, while the classroom instruction aims to help students independently reflect upon and apply the content of the course on an advanced level in relation to developing their own research design. The lectures are held in English. As far as possible, the classroom instruction will be held in Danish.

Description of qualifications

Please provide a brief description of the overall purpose of the course and the most important qualifications and skills (learning objectives) that the students will acquire by completing the course.

It is important that you formulate clear and measurable learning objectives, since the exam assessment must be based on an overall assessment of the extent to which the students fulfil the learning objectives.

The learning objectives must be divided into knowledge, skills and competences:

Knowledge includes both knowledge of a topic and understanding, i.e. whether you can put your knowledge into context and explain it to others. Knowledge can be both practical and theoretical.
Skills are what you can do or carry out. They can be practical, cognitive, creative and communicative.
Competences relate to the ability to apply knowledge and skills in a given context.

The description of the course content should be stated separately from the learning objectives.

There must be a correlation between the description of qualifications for the course and the qualification profile for the degree programme as a whole.

Language of instruction and examination

Please state the language(s) of instruction.

Please state the language of examination. You may only enter one language of examination.

Please note that the degree programme must have a general linguistic identity, i.e. the majority of the courses in the programme must be offered in the language of the degree programme.

Hours – Weeks – Periods*

Please state the total number of lessons and how they are distributed across the weeks/period in which the course takes place.

For example:
A total of 42 lessons distributed across the entire semester:
Lectures: Two lessons for 10 weeks
Classroom instruction: Two lessons for 11 weeks

See also the principles for timetable planning at Aarhus BSS.

This field is used to communicate information to the students. In addition, the field is used to gather data for a project calculating the number of teaching hours, which has been launched by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. The purpose of calculating teaching hours is to highlight how many hours of teaching, supervision or student teacher instruction students are offered on the degree programmes.

In accordance with the quality assurance policy at Aarhus BSS, Bachelor’s programmes must comprise no less than 180 teaching hours on average per semester, while Master’s programmes must comprise no less than 120 hours on average per semester.

Please describe the academic content of the course and if relevant, list the main parts/subjects that the course consists of. The description of the course content should be stated separately from the learning objectives.

Course coordinator*

Please state the name and email of the member of academic staff who has the overall academic responsibility for the course.

You may only state one course coordinator.

The course coordinator will be responsible for handling e.g. teaching evaluations and exam complaints in connection with the course.

The field must be filled in.

Lecturer

Please state the name of the lecturer(s). If the course coordinator listed in the field above is also a lecturer on the course, his/her name must be repeated in this field.

Academic term*

Please state the semester on which the course is placed within the degree programme, for example 4th semester. If the course is part of more than one degree programme, please state the semester on which the course is placed within each degree programme.

Syllabus

If relevant, please state the total number of pages in the syllabus. You can enter information about the literature in the “Literature” field.

Literature

Please state the course literature if this has been determined by the time the course description is submitted.

If you include the course literature in the course description, you must use this literature in the teaching. Otherwise, the students risk buying books that they will not be using.

Maximum enrolment*

Please note that there will always be a limitation on the number of students who can be enrolled in the course due to the room reserved for teaching.

In addition, there may be pedagogical reasons for limiting the number of students. This may also be stated in this field. Such a limitation must always be discussed with the director of studies.

Criteria for selection in the event that there are too many applicants is described on the study portal.

Here you must also state if the course content overlaps with other courses (e.g. students may not choose this course and the course “xxx” due to overlap). In this way, we can ensure that students are not taking courses with overlapping content in the same study programme.

Academic prerequisites

Please indicate any academic prerequisites or other courses that it is recommended that the students have completed before taking this course.

Exam details

Assessment*

Choose between:

7-point grading scale
Pass/Fail

The assessment ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’ may be used only for examinations accounting for a maximum of one third of the degree programme’s ECTS credits. cf. the Examination Order.

Type of co-examination*

Please select one of the following types of co-examination:

Internal co-examination: Assessment by an examiner and one or more internal members of the teaching staff.
No co-examination: The exam is assessed by the examiner only.
External co-examination: Assessment by the examiner and one or more external co-examiners appointed by the Danish Agency for Higher Education.

For the sake of the exam administration and the case handling, it is important to distinguish between whether there is no co-examination or internal co-examination even though this division is not applied in the Examination Order.

External co-examination must be used for exams accounting for at least one third of the degree programme’s ECTS credits. cf. the Examination Order.

Changes to external co-examination can only take place in connection with new academic regulations.

Prerequisites for exam participation

Prerequisite activities that the student must fulfil to be allowed to take the exam and re-exam may be defined. The vice-dean for education has established a framework for prerequisite activities on the school’s degree programmes.

Prerequisite activities must only be applied when there are clear pedagogical and academic reasons for why these should be prioritised over voluntary activities.

If the student needs to fulfil certain prerequisite activities in order to take the exam, these must be clearly described below this field in the course description. This includes:

Content: The content of the prerequisite activities must be clearly described. Examples of prerequisite activities may be to hand in a certain number of written assignments during the semester, to hold a certain number of presentations or to participate in class.

Formalities: The student must not be required to have passed the prerequisite activity in order to take the exam. This means that the prerequisite activity must not be assessed “Pass”/”Fail” or “Approved/”Not approved”. However, a number of formalities may be listed which the student must fulfil in order to fulfil the prerequisites, e.g. the minimum length of a written assignment, the number of topics/theories discussed in a written assignment. These formalities must be clearly described in the course description. If the student does not fulfil the prerequisites, he or she will not be allowed to take the exam and will have used an exam attempt.

Re-exam in the re-examination period: Students, who have used an examination attempt at the ordinary exam, must have the opportunity to take the re-exam. Please note that students, who have not fulfilled the prerequisite activities prior to the ordinary exam, are required to fulfill these or similar activities prior to the re-exam. This must be clearly described in the course description.

Type of exam*

Choose between the following types of exams:

Take-home assignment
On-site written exam
Oral exam
Lecture participation

You should select a type of exam that ensures coherence between the learning objectives, the course content and the exam.

AU has compiled a new exam catalogue (currently only available in Danish). You are encouraged to use this as inspiration for new exams.

Exam duration*

Please state the duration of the exam. The duration must be stated in days, hours or minutes, e.g. 5 days, 3 hours or 20 minutes.

For oral exams, both individual and group exams, please state the time per student including the time used for assessment.

Preparation time*

For oral exams, please state the preparation time, if any.

Aids permitted*

Please indicate which aids the students are allowed to use at the exam. Choose between:

All: The students may bring all ordinary aids to the exam, such as notes, dictionaries and textbooks. Includes use of tools based on generative artificial intelligence (GAI).
None: The students may not bring any aids to the exam.
Specified: The students may only bring the aids specified in the course description to the exam.

If you select Specified, you must include a detailed description of the aids that the students are allowed to use.

If students are not allowed to use tools based on generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in exams with “all aids” allowed, these must be changed to “specified aids”, and the prohibition on the use of GAI must be stated here.

Find out more about aids in digital exams.

Further description of the type of exam

Prepare a detailed description of the exam including:

For take-home assignments: whether the assignment is set or elective (self-chosen subject within the academic field) and the scope of the assignment.
For oral exams: the content of the exam, e.g. whether the student must draw a question, whether the exam is based on the syllabus, or whether the student must defend a written exam paper.
For group exams: please specify the maximum number of students per group, whether students can opt for an individual exam and requirements for individualisation of written papers. Please note that if a written group paper is not followed by an oral exam, the individual students' contributions must be clearly marked, cf. the Examination Order.

See the following examples of exam descriptions:

Example 1: from an oral exam:

The student must be able to answer one or more questions posed by the lecturer within the field of study (syllabus), elaborate on and discuss relevant aspects of the question(s) in dialogue with the examiner and co-examiner. The question(s) relate to theoretical and methodological issues in connection with the measurement of external, internal and integrated communication in organisations as well as with relevant and related aspects such as the measurement of reputation, image and identity as well as the structure of communication.

Example 2: from a take-home assignment followed by an oral exam:

The student must prepare a written synopsis that analyses, solves, discusses and/or evaluates a communicative problem or assignment of a theoretical or practical nature within corporate communication from an internal perspective. The topic of the synopsis must be approved by the supervisor. The student is responsible for providing the theoretical and/or empirical basis of the synopsis. The synopsis must be uploaded to WISEflow seven days before the oral exam.

The written synopsis should contain max. xxx characters, corresponding to 10 standard pages in length excl. appendices. The number of characters must be stated in the synopsis.

Written assignments that do not comply with these stipulations cannot be accepted for assessment and will be rejected.

The oral exam lasts 30 minutes (incl. assessment and grading) and consists of two parts. The first part is directly related to the synopsis. Here the student must explain and account for the choices made in the synopsis. The student presentation may last no more than five minutes and is followed by a dialogue and discussion on the synopsis. The second part of the oral exam relates to the syllabus. Here, the student must answer one or more questions posed by the examiner on key theories, concepts and models within the field of study (the syllabus) and elaborate on and discuss relevant aspects of the question(s) in dialogue with the examiner and co-examiner.

WISEflow*

For written exams and take-home assignments, please state how the exam will be held on WISEflow - the digital exam platform. Please select one of the following:

There are three options for take-home assignments:

Take home assignment submitted in WISEflow.

Take-home assignment on topic of student’s own choice submitted in WISEflow.

Set take-home assignment submitted in WISEflow.

There are three options for take-home assignments followed by an oral exam:

Take home assignment submitted in WISEflow, followed by an oral exam.

Take home assignment on topic of student’s own choice submitted in WISEflow, followed by an oral exam.

Set take home assignment submitted in WISEflow, followed by an oral exam.

There are two options for regular on-site exams:

On-site written exam submitted in WISEflow.
- Use of the internet allowed during the exam.
- Own PC required.

On-site written exam submitted in WISEflow.
- Use of the internet NOT allowed during the exam.
- Own PC required.

There are three options for on-site exams in FLOWlock:

Multiple-choice on-site written exam submitted in WISEflow. The questions are answered in FLOWlock (a closed browser).
- Use of the internet NOT allowed during the exam.
- Own PC required.
- The lockdown browser must be installed prior to the exam.
- The browser prevents you from accessing anything else on your PC.

On-site written exam submitted in WISEflow. The assignment is completed in FLOWlock (a closed browser).
- Use of the internet NOT allowed during the exam.
- Own PC required.
- The lockdown browser must be installed prior to the exam.
- The browser prevents you from accessing anything else on your PC.

On-site written exam submitted in WISEflow. The assignment is completed in FLOWlock (a closed browser).
- Use of the internet NOT allowed during the exam.
- Own PC required.
- The lockdown browser must be installed prior to the exam.
- The browser prevents you from accessing anything other than PDF files stored locally on your own PC.

Exam by hand:

On-site written exam without a PC.
- The assignment is written by hand.

Re-exam in the re-examination period*

Enter the type of exam in the re-examination period. If the type of exam is the same as in the ordinary exam, please state the following:

“Re-exam: same type of examination as in the ordinary exam.”

Please note that if the ordinary exam includes group activities or classroom participation, the type of exam in the re-examination period will always have to be different. Also, please keep in mind whether the type of exam is appropriate for the short re-examination period.

Fill out the template for a new course

Download the guidelines

Ordinary degree programmes