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. In the 2007-2008 a.y. web casting and e-learning projects will be 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.

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 interaction between students and teachers.

The teaching activities are organized into class groups. For the 2007-2008 a.y. 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) 2007-2008 a.y., 23 class groups have been scheduled:

For the 2006-2007 a.y. (compulsory courses) first year of courses, the 20 class groups were arranged as follows:

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.

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

For educational activities students are assigned to certain 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 their assigned 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 can choose a first year second semester course (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 complete enrolment (electives become part of a student's personalized timetable only after the elective registration has finished; in any case by 14 September).

Preparatory courses are offered before the start of first-year lessons (in the period 3-15 September 2007). 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.

In general, 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. Attendance is highly recommended. The class timetable and the class group are published on the Internet at the address http://www.unibocconi.it/classtimetable .

In the first semester of the 2007-2008 a.y. 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 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 2007-2008 academic year will include an e-learning class group for some elective courses of Undergraduate Degree programs and Master of Science programs 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:

• 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;
• 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.

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 mothod of choice see chapter 10.2.3

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.

As partial exams are not compulsory, e-learning students can register for the general exam.

Following are the e-learning courses available for the 2007/2008 academic year:

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: http://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 courses (see chapter 'Study plan').

With respect to compulsory courses, the program structure does not allow overlapping between lessons, however this cannot be guaranteed with respect to elective courses.

The class timetable of the second year 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.

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 is published on the University's Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/classtimetable.

The class timetable and any variations are posted, in numerical order, on the bulletin boards located on the ground floor of the University buildings at piazza Sraffa 13 and via Sarfatti 25 (students can also find the languages bulletin board in the same place).

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

At Punto Blu terminals students can see 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 2007-2008 a.y. will follow the schedule below:

• I semester: from Monday 17 September 2007 to Friday 21 December 2007;
• II semester: from Monday 18 February 2008 to Thursday 29 May 2008.

There is a 2-day study period (Tuesday 3 June and Wednesday 4 June) after the end of the second semester and before the start of the exam period in June for second semester courses. This study period is dedicated to individual study and/or making up lessons which had been previously cancelled.

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

• Friday 5 October 2007;
• Saturday 6 October 2007;
• Friday 14 December 2007;
• Saturday 15 December 2007;
• Thursday 27 March 2008;
• Friday 28 March 2008.

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

• I semester: from Monday 29 October 2007 to Saturday 10 November 2007;
• II semester: from Monday 14 April 2008 to Thursday 24 April 2008.

Teaching activities are also suspended on the following days:

• Thursday 1 November and Friday 2 November 2007;
• Friday 7 December 2007;
• From Friday 21 March to Wednesday 26 March 2008;
• Friday 25 April 2008;
• Thursday 1 May and Friday 2 May 2008.

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. The Course Director must also organize the teaching staff of all class groups of the course. He/she is responsible for the individual result of course evaluation questionnaires regarding class groups in the course.

There are 2 types of tutor assistance offered to graduate studies:

• course level assistance is proposed by the Course Director and approved by the Program Director. This type of tutoring includes support given 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 software especially as a support tool for students studying for educational debits;
• "interdisciplinary" level assistance provides students with guidance and support to ensure that they can be actively involved in the study process during the course.

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 Institute bulletin boards and can also be found on the Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/ricevimentodocenti (Italian version) 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; it involves all teachers and courses in the MSc program including foreign languages and computer skills;
• 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, Tutoring Service). The evaluation is completed online (via yoU@B student diary) and is required for students when enrolling in the next 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.