GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

The education model adopted by the Master of Science programs is characterized by teaching activities to encourage interaction between students and teachers.
In addition to traditional lessons, the activities include case studies, practical exercises for which students are asked to prepare beforehand and active class participation. Teachers can also assign individual and/or groups assignments, if necessary, assisted by a tutor.

For courses included in the degree program, one credit point corresponds to 8 hours of lessons.
A maximum of 2 hours (that only exceptionally can become  4) of the total hours of a compulsory course (8) can be organized dividing the class group into 2 smaller groups.

Some courses also provide online multimedia support to class teaching. These courses are specified in the annual teaching activities program. Starting from the last academic year for some elective courses  web casting and e-learning projects have been launched.

The web casting project involves video recording of the lessons of a course, so that they can be broadcast in streaming format via Internet.

The e-learning project supports traditional learning methods and creates a collaborative learning environment. Tutors are involved in the preparation of websites and development of course specific software.

The e-learning project allows students who are unable to attend lessons held with traditional methods (because of interniships or in programs abroad) to follow the lessons in distance learning.

Attendance at lessons is highly recommended since it complies with the proposed educational model which is designed to favor gradual learning, active student participation and in class interaction between students and teachers.

Some courses may have different assessment methods for attending and non attending students

The teaching activities are organized into class groups. For the 2008-2009 academic year the compulsory courses of Master of Science programs have class groups of around 85 students each, with the exception of the CLG-LS program (around 120 students per class group).

For the first year (compulsory courses) 2008-2009 academic year , 23 class groups have been scheduled:

The composition of second-year class groups is not provided because the other program requirements include only elective courses (class groups from 31 to 34), except for the CLG-LS Program.

The compulsory courses of the second year CLG-LS are assigned class groups 18 and 19.

For educational activities students are assigned to a class group as follows:

• for compulsory courses class groups are assigned before lessons begin. Each class group is assigned a specific classroom. All students belonging to the same class group attend the lessons in the same classroom and have the same teachers. To facilitate educational activities planning (class group numbers and classroom capacity) students cannot change their assigned class group;
• for some Master of Science programs (M-LS, ACME,-LS, EMIT-LS) students include in their study plans a first year second semester course chosen by the students(see chapter Study Plan); for such activities the class group (given a number from 31 to 34) is assigned before the beginning of lessons;  
• for foreign languages class groups are assigned when enrolment is completed and is based on the choice of languages and the student's language level;
• for elective courses class groups are assigned when students choose electives and enrol in the academic year (electives become part of a student's personalized timetable only after the elective choice phase is over in any case by 14 September 2008).

Preparatory courses are offered before the start of first-year lessons (in the period 1-13 September 2008). They are especially designed for those students who during undergraduate studies attended courses that were not directly connected to the graduate program. The preparatory courses aim to prepare students for the topics covered in the first year.

As a general guide, preparatory courses are different for each Master of Science program, (the CLG-LS does not offer any). There is no exam at the completion of these courses.

Students do not need to sign up for these courses. The class timetable and the class group are published on the Internet at the address www.unibocconi.it/classtimetable .

The course profiles are published on-line at www.unibocconi.it/courses.

In the first semester of the 2008-2009 academic year  for first year students some B2 level English class groups are scheduled. These courses go over the language basics and aim to give students an optimal preparation to help them take on the curricular courses which are scheduled in the second semester.

These courses provide 2 hours of classroom teaching per week to be integrated with individual study mainly by using multimedia learning systems.
Students can sign up for the class groups via the yoU@B student diary.
Sign-ups are accepted until the maximum number of 100 students per class group is reached.
Class groups will only be held if the minimum required number of students is reached.

The educational offer for the 2008-2009 academic year will include an e-learning class group for some elective courses already taught in the same semester with traditional methods.

Traditional educational activities in class are replaced, in the e-learning class groups, by the participation in specific on-line activities, both asynchronous (i.e. students' individual activities) and synchronous (i.e. videoconference).

On-line activities are set and scheduled by the Course Director. They may include, for instance:

• participation in synchronous activities with teachers and other students. Such activities may consist in debates or question and answer periods regarding course subjects, on-line real-time exercises/on-line lessons etc.
• on-line consultation of specific material (slides, documents etc.);
• participation in on-line forums;
• drafting of electronic documents, both individually and with other students, which may be based on material available on-line;

 For further information students are advised to check course profiles.

Recipients 

Since e-learning is the only opportunity which allows students to participate virtually in the course, this method provides new services and options compatible with the great mobility required to study abroad and/or to take part in  internships in Italy and/or abroad.

Such learning methods are offered only to students unable to attend lessons regularly; however, the traditional methods have preference and are recommended by the University since they are the most effective.

Method of choice 

For method  of choice see "Administrative procedures, regulations and deadlines".

Course profiles and exam assessment methods 

The course profiles of traditional class groups (in class) and of e-learning class groups are identical.   However due to different teaching approaches, teachers can diversify supplementary exercises and/or other related activities by offering e-learning students alternate activities.

The exams are held at the university, following traditional methods (in class); the exam calendar is the same for the two class groups. Distance exams are not offered by the university.

Students enrolled in e-learning class groups can take partial exams, if available.

For information relating to credit points, language of instruction, semester, and Degree Programs offering these courses please check course profiles published on the website at: www.unibocconi.it/courses .

The first year class timetable

The class timetable has been planned so that educational activities connected to first-year compulsory courses are mainly concentrated in either the morning or the afternoon, in order to make it easier for students to dedicate the other part of the day to individual study.

The timetable is structured to provide specific time slots, different in each semester, but the same for all MSc degrees. These time slots are reserved for specific types of activities (compulsory courses, languages and in the second semester elective courses for the DES-LS/ESS-LS program only). Thus, class timetable clashes between compulsory courses, electives and languages are avoided.

Lessons that need to be divided in groups may be organized at times that are different from those planned for normal lessons.

The second year class timetable

In the second year students complete their study plans by selecting elective courses following different rules in the various MSc Programs (see "Program Structures of the Master of Science Degrees").

With respect to compulsory courses, the program structure does not allow overlapping between lessons, however this cannot be guaranteed for  elective courses due to their contemporary presence in different Majors

The second year class timetable also includes time slots for languages.

No teaching activities are scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays between 6:00pm-7:30pm as they are reserved for company presentations organized by the Career Service.

As a general guide, for both years of MSc programs there are no teaching activities from 1:00 to 2:30pm on Fridays, both in the first and second semester, as it is reserved for student group activities.

The general class timetable and any changes are published on theStudent diary and on the University's Internet site at www.unibocconi.it/classtimetable.

After enrolment, students can view   and print their personalized class timetable at Punto Blu terminals or via the yoU@B student diary.

At Punto Blu terminals students can view   and print their personalized class timetables for the current semester only.

In addition, the yoU@B  student diary can be accessed from the Bocconi homepage. By connecting students can integrate their personalized class timetable with other educational activities of interest and print all the other information recorded in their diary for the desired period (daily, weekly, monthly, etc).

The teaching activities for the 2008-2009 academic year will follow the schedule below:

• I semester: from Monday 15 September 2008 to Friday 19 December 2008;
• II semester: from Monday 16 February 2009 to Thursday 28 May 2009.

On graduation days (Bachelor/Undergraduate Programs, MSc and four-year degrees), listed below, lessons for all courses and all degree programs (Bachelor Programs, MSc and Combined Bachelor and MSc in Giurisprudenza [Law]) are suspended:

• Friday 10 October 2008;
• Saturday 11 October 2008;
• Friday 12 December 2008;
• Saturday 13 December 2008;
• Thursday 26 March 2009;
• Friday 27 March 2009
• Saturday 28 March 2009.

Teaching activities are also suspended, for all courses due to the exam sessions for partial exams listed below:

• I semester: from Wednesday 29 October 2008 to Saturday 8 November 2008;
• II semester: from Monday 30 Marzo 2009 to Thursday 9 April 2009.

Teaching activities are also suspended on the following days:

• Saturday 1 November 2008;
• Monday 8 December 2008;
• From Friday 10 April to Tuesday 14 April 2009;
• Friday 25 April 2009;
• Friday 1 May 2009.

All courses have a Course Director who writes the course program, organizes assessment methods and textbooks, and is responsible for ensuring consistency of both teaching and assessment of his class groups. The Course Director must also organize the teaching staff of all class groups of his course. He/she is responsible for the individual result of course evaluation questionnaires for each class groups in the course.

Some courses offer tutor assistance. Tutoring includes support to the teacher and to student teams working on case studies, projects, in-class practical exercises, and management of the online community. It could also involve lectures that require the use of the software especially as a support tool for CLG-LS students studying for making up educational debits.

• Tutors 2008-2009 academic year
  

During office hours the student has the opportunity to consult teachers.
This gives students the chance to seek further explanations or clarifications of the topics that were not fully understood during lessons.
The office hours timetable is displayed on the Department  bulletin boards and can also be found on the Internet site at www.unibocconi.it/studentconsultationhours or in the yoU@B student diary, which provides a direct link to the page. 

Bocconi uses a detailed evaluation system designed to check the quality of education which involves the student's direct active input. This is done by gathering students' opinions using evaluations which are organized at specific points during the student's degree program. The main activities include:

• mid-semester evaluation (so called "mid-term evaluation") is carried out voluntarily by students at the teacher's request to gather information on the teaching quality and course progress and shedding light on any problems in a timely fashion which allows corrective action to be implemented before the end of the course;
• end-semester evaluation is carried out close to end of the period of lessons of each course; it involves all teachers and courses in the MSc program including foreign languages;
• end-of-year evaluation refers to a whole year of studies to gather the opinions and feelings of students about the services which play an important part in students' lives right from the start of their university career (Admissions Office, Student Administration Centre, Language Centre). The evaluation is completed online (via yoU@B student diary) and is required for students when enrolling in the following academic year;
• evaluation of assessment methods, is carried out every two years to gather information on students' impressions on efficiency and fairness of the procedures used to test the students' preparation; this is carried out online as above.
• evaluation of overall university experience, is a systematic assessment concerning students who are about to complete their studies, aimed at gathering information on the quality and effectiveness of the curricula, on the study experience and on the main support services (e.g. ISU Bocconi Student Assistance and Financial Aid, Career Service, International Relations Service). Also in this case the questionnaire is completed online via the yoU@B student diary and it is made available to graduating students around one month before the deadline for making the graduation reservation.