Education characteristics

• You will work in work groups of up to 20-25 students under the supervision of a lecturer, who also gives lectures and is responsible for supervising and marking assignments and preparing students for tests.
• The internship and Master's thesis include tri-weekly Master's meetings, at which you share your experiences with fellow students and lecturers.
• Students work intensively and independently.
• The programme uses various teaching methods, including: lectures, work groups, masterclasses and individual supervision.
• It also uses various forms of assessment, including assignments, essays, papers, examinations and presentations.
• Students focus on acquiring skills in the fields of conducting applied research and forming recommendations, presentation and communication, collaboration, and oral and written communication skills.
• Students independently complete a thesis.
• The programme maintains a close connection between theory and practice.

Education is only effective when both parties – teacher and student – are willing to commit. The importance of ‘commitment’ is also reflected in the assessment methods for this programme. A distinction is made between performance and commitment.

Performance refers to the quality of completed assignments and exams. Commitment refers to the amount of effort expended (turning up and participating). If you are ever unable to attend a class or examination for a compelling reason, please inform the lecturer ahead of time.

Detailed information regarding the level of performance and commitment expected from you on the programme is provided in the course guide. The Course Coordinator will ultimately decide whether your efforts have been sufficient. The minimum expected attendance rate of 80% serves as a general guideline. If you fail to meet the commitment requirements, you may be excluded from further participation in the programme component.

The types of assessment will be specified for each course in the course manual.

It is important to note that grades are only valid in the academic year in which they were obtained.

Students are given the opportunity to evaluate each course. The results of the student evaluations are accessible to all students in Caracal. You can find the aforementioned information for each course period here.

The Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) evaluates all courses run in a single teaching period. It also examines the level of cohesion within the curriculum and the tracks. It offers recommendations to the Master’s Education Committee (EC) and to the Sociology department's teaching management team.

A course guide is provided for each course, which includes detailed descriptions of various aspects of the course, including:
 

• content and structure of the course;
• required reading;
• working methods;
• assignments;
• tests and assessment;
• commitment requirements;
• generic timetable;
• a detailed weekly overview.

The course guides are posted on the course site on Blackboard.