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GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

2018-2019 A.Y.
Master of Science Programs (2-y)



6.
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

         
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6.1.
Teaching activities for courses in the degree program requirements

           
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6.1.1.
Educational model

The education model adopted by the Master of Science programs is characterized by teaching activities to encourage interaction between students and faculty.
In addition to traditional lectures, activities include case studies, practical exercises for which students are asked to prepare beforehand and active class participation. Faculty 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 lectures.

A maximum of 2 hours 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. For some elective courses  web casting and e-learning projects have been launched.

The web casting project involves video recording of the lectures of a course, so that they can be broadcast in streaming format via internet. This learning method cannot be chosen by the students who must only express or refuse their authorization to be video recorded.

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

The e-learning project allows students who are unable to attend lectures held with traditional methods (because of internships or in programs abroad) to follow the lectures in distance learning (see "E-learning class groups").

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6.1.2.
Attendance

Attendance at lectures 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 include online attendance recording. Depending on the student's attendance, there may be different assessment methods for attending and non-attending students.

As for the technologic innovations of learning activities, using personal computers may be a compulsory condition for attending the lectures of some courses, therefore students should be equipped with a personal laptop PC.

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6.1.3.
Class groups

Teaching activities are organized into class groups. For the 2018-2019 academic year, for the compulsory courses included in the of Master of Science program structures, class groups have around 85 students each. There are exceptions for the Masters of Science in International Management (IM), “Data Science and Business Analytics” (DSBA) and “Politics and Policy Analysis” (PPA), whose class groups have fewer students each.

For the first year of studies (compulsory courses) in 2018-2019 academic year, 24 class groups have been scheduled:

 Master of Science

Class Groups

Language

M

from 1 to 3

Italian

M

4-5

English

IM

6-7

English

MM

8-9

Italian  

MM

10

English  

AFC

11-12

Italian    

AFC

13

English

GIO

14

English

CLEFIN

15

Italian    

FINANCE

16-17

English  

CLELI

18

Italian   

ACME

19

English   

ESS

20-21

English    

EMIT

22

English    

DSBA 23 English
PPA 24 English


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


  • for compulsory courses, class groups are assigned before lectures begin. Each class group is assigned a specific classroom for the majority of courses. All students belonging to the same class group attend the lectures in the same classroom and have the same faculty. 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, ACME, GIO, EMIT, DSBA) students include in their study plans of first year second semester one or more courses chosen by the students on the basis of the curriculum/major/workshop chosen; for such activities the class group is assigned before the relating lectures;
  • for foreign languages, enrollment in the English class, the first compulsory language, occurs through the yoU@B Student Diary, generally in the 2nd academic year (for more information, see Chapter 3 “Foreign Languages”). For the second language, the class group is automatically assigned when the choice is made through Punto Blu;
  • for electives, the class group is assigned when choosing the elective courses upon enrollment in the academic year (it can be viewed in the personalized class timetable after the period for choosing the electives is over).

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6.1.3.1.
Preparatory courses

Preparatory courses are offered before the start of first-year lectures (in the period 23 August - 4 September 2018). These courses are an important tool which helps students to face the subjects characterizing the first year of the Master of Science program.

As Master of Science programs are more specific than the Bachelor of Science programs and as the composition of class groups is heterogeneous, attendance is strongly recommended because they help all students enrolled take on the work involved in the university experience.

The course profiles of Master of Science programs have therefore been created taking the basic knowledge of the undergraduate programs acquired and known for granted.


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 website at the address www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.


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

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6.1.3.2.
Preparatory Courses for Curricular Languages

For students duly enrolled in the first year of a program in the 2018-2019 academic year, preparatory courses for all curricular languages are available.

Curricular language courses include information in the specific area of economics. Therefore, a suitable initial level is required in order for attendance in curricular courses during the semester after the preparatory courses to be beneficial and effective.

Attendance is strongly recommended.

The following courses are offered:
  • in the 1st semester, preparatory courses for French, Italian, Spanish and German at the A1/A2 level
  • in the 2nd semester, preparatory course for English at the B1/B2 level

Students can sign up for class groups online via the yoU@B Student Diary.
Applications will be accepted until enrollment capacity is reached (a maximum of 100 applicants) on a first-come, first-served basis.

Class groups will be started only if there are enough applicants.

There is no exam at the completion of these courses.

Course profiles for preparatory courses are available online (yoU@B and BBoard).
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6.1.3.3.
E-learning class group

An e-learning class group for some elective courses already taught in the same semester with traditional methods will be activated.

In the e-learning class group, traditional educational activities in class are replaced, by 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 faculty and other students. Such activities may consist in debates or question and answer periods regarding course subjects, on-line real-time exercises/on-line lectures 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.


Participants
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 increased 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 lectures regularly; however, the traditional methods are given 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, faculty 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 MSc programs offering these courses please check the course profiles published on the website at: www.unibocconi.eu/courses.

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6.1.4.
Class timetable

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. These time slots are reserved for specific types of activities (compulsory courses, languages and in the second semester elective courses for the ESS program only). Thus, class timetable clashes between compulsory courses, electives and languages are avoided.

Lectures that require groups may be organized at times that are different from those planned for normal lectures.

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").

Regarding Major compulsory courses, the program structure does not allow overlapping between lectures. However, avoiding overlappings for elective courses is only possible for courses which are simultaneously present in the a) group of each Major.

Therefore, due to the complexity of the class timetable structure, it is not possible to exclude any course overlapping between lectures of other courses.

Students are recommended to check the class timetable of elective courses before choosing the courses to be included in the study plan.
The second year class timetable also includes time slots for languages.

In general, 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 the http://agenda.unibocconi.it/ Student Diary and on the University's website at www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.

After initial enrollment and the enrollment in the academic year, students can view and print their personalized class timetable via the yoU@B student Diary.

The teaching activities for the 2018-2019 academic year will follow the schedule below:

First and second year of studies

  • 1st semester: from Wednesday 5 September 2018 to Thursday 6 December 2018;
  • 2nd semester: from Monday 4 February 2019 to Friday 10 May 2019.
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6.1.5.
Suspension of Lectures

On the graduation days (BSc, MSc and Integrated Master of Arts in Law programs) listed below, lectures for all courses and all degree programs (Bachelor of Science, MSc and Integrated Master of Arts in Giurisprudenza [Law]) are suspended:
  • Friday and Saturday 12-13 October 2018;
  • Saturday 23 March 2019, Monday and Tuesday 25-26 March 2019.

Teaching activities are also suspended in the periods below for all courses, due to the exam sessions for partial exams:
  • 1st semester: from Monday 15 October 2018 to Saturday 20 October 2018;
  • 2nd semester: from Monday 18 March 2019 to Saturday 23 March 2019.

Teaching activities are also suspended on the following days:
  • From Thursday 1 November 2018 to Saturday 3 November 2018;
  • From Friday 19 April 2019 to Saturday 27 April 2019;
  • Wednesday 1 May 2019.
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6.2.
Support activities and academic representatives

              
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6.2.1.
Course Director

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

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6.2.2.
Teaching assistants

Some courses offer tutor assistance. Tutoring includes support to the faculty and to student teams working on case studies, projects, in-class practical exercises, and management of the online community. It may also involve lectures that require the use of software.

For information about courses and teaching assistantship (teaching assistants), the following document can be consulted:

  • List of teaching assistants 2018-2019 academic year (available on September)


Information regarding the 1st semester will be available by the end of September and information regarding courses offered in the 2nd semester will be available by the end of February.

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6.2.3.
Office hours

During office hours, students have the opportunity to consult with teachers.

This gives students the chance to seek further explanations or clarifications of the topics that were not fully understood during lectures.

The office hours timetable can also be found in the yoU@B student Diary and/or on the website at www.unibocconi.eu/studentconsultationhours.

If decided by the professor, the office hours may be carried out only upon reservation by the student: in this case the reservation can be made exclusively through the yoU@B student Diary.

At the professor’s discretion, students are invited to check in advance the office hours methods.

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6.2.4.
Evaluation

For many years, Bocconi has used a detailed evaluation system designed to monitor the educational quality of each course which is based on the student's direct active input.

This includes:

  • checks carried out through "class group representatives", appointed to represent the entire class group by liaising with the faculty, acting as their spokesperson with the task of presenting their observations and suggestions and outlining any difficulties that may arise during lectures. For evaluation purposes, the role of class representatives is to create an environment which favors more interaction between faculty and students. As a matter of fact, the Course Director is invited to periodically meet with these students, and at the end of the semester, discuss with them the general outcome of teaching. Also, upon his/her own initiative, the Program Director can meet class representatives in order to check their opinions on the methods of the different courses in which the educational path is structured. Further details on the class representatives and student representatives can generally be found on the website at http://www.unibocconi.eu/ in "Student Representation".
  • gathering opinions through questionnaires including different surveys taking place in specific periods of the student’s academic career:
  1. Mid-semester evaluation of teaching (so called "mid-term evaluation") carried out voluntarily by students at the faculty member’s request, to gather information on the teaching quality and course progress and shedding light on any problems in a timely fashion, allowing corrective action to be implemented before the end of the course;
  2. End-semester evaluation of teaching carried out close to the end of lectures; it involves all curricular courses and all students enrolled in them. Questionnaires are completed in electronic format through an online procedure (through tablet, PC or smartphone) that can be accessed first in the classroom, during the course to be evaluated, on a day communicated by the faculty member. After the in-class survey, the questionnaire can be accessed through a link in the yoU@B Diary (for a limited number of days that is communicated when the procedure is launched), but which can only be completed by non-attending students.
  3. Evaluation of year of study progression (teaching and exams) carried out at the end of the academic year (starting with the second year) to gather information on the students’ global opinion on the activities carried out in the previous year, organizational aspects relating to them and on exams. In this occasion students are requested to give their opinion on some services of the University (e.g. orientation, admissions, One-Stop Service Center). This is done by completing an electronic questionnaire divided into several sections that is available for a specified period of time, through a link in the yoU@B Diary.
  4. Evaluation of the overall university experience questionnaire, systematically involving all the students who are about to complete their studies (when making the graduation reservation). It aims to gather information on students' global impressions regarding the quality and effectiveness of the program attended, their study experience and some support services (e.g. international mobility, Career Service, Fees Funding and Housing Office). This is also done by completing an electronic questionnaire divided into several sections that is available for a specified period of time, through a link in the yoU@B Diary.
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