Preparation of the Second Cycle Computer Science Programme at UNL Pedro Guerreiro TEI, Athens, June...

Preparation of the Second Cycle Computer Science Programme at UNLPedro GuerreiroTEI, Athens, June 21, 2006

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Main Questions?

Whom does it target? What shape should it take? Should it end by a dissertation or

by a project? How is this project directed? What are the others doing? When will it start? What will happen next?

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Who does it target?

Students who have just finished first cycle. All of them?

Students from other universities. Do we require an entrance exam?

Students from other countries. Do we have to teach in English?

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Do we accept all our first cycle graduates? Do we have a minimum entrance

mark? Yes: 12 (in 20)

Do we have other requirements? Yes: they must have taken some

specific elective courses during the first cycle.

If not, they must take an exam. However, students may start

second cycle conditionally, having not completed the first cycle.

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New students?

We welcome new students having finished their first cycle at another university. For a set of “good” universities,

admission is automatic. For others, a commission will

consider. Not clear the case where if they

have not finished first cycle at the other university.

(Smaller universities worry.)

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Foreign students

The dream of every university. Will we be judged by the number

of foreign students we can attract?

Classes will have to be delivered in English.

From now: all material will be written in English.

Not clear if exams will have to be conducted in English for Portuguese students.

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Shape

Flat? Just a collection of curricular units.

Specialized? Curricular units give credit points to

“specializations”. Multiple?

A number of different second cycles, each with each own rules, course director, etc.

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We chose specialization

Six specializations:Software EngineeringNetwork ComputingArtificial IntelligenceProgramming ModelsInformation TechnologyMultimedia Computing

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Getting a specialization

Curricular units give credits to zero or more specializations.

If a student accumulates 30 ECTS in curricular units of specialization S, his diploma will bear a mention “with specialization in S”.

Yes, it is possible to have more than one.

And it is possible to have zero.

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Example of specialization Software Engineering

Object-Oriented Software Development Requirement Analysis and Software

Design Software Architectures Process Quality and Product Quality Domain-Specific Programming

Languages Software Analysis and Validation Advanced Topics in Software

Engineering

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Dissertation or Project

We accept both. Are Dissertation and Project two

different curricular units, or the same curricular unit? It’s the same curricular unit. It’s more flexible, and students can

adjust with less administrative hassle.

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Who steers this project? A commission of three does. Groups of department members

“spontaneously” proposed specializations.

The elder professors trimmed the proposals and established uniform criteria.

Proposals were adjusted. Department approved. Faculty and University will

approve.

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A good idea: Wiki

The steering committee set up a “Bologna” Wiki.

It was a repository of all working documents.

Proposals by different groups were always available.

Anyone can upload relevant documents.

It was very useful.

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What are the others doing? All important Portuguese

informatics degrees, except one, clearly adopted the 3+2 format.

Most are starting first cycle next September.

Second cycle is more complicated.

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When will the second cycle start? September 2007. Issues:

Current Master degree has to be phased out.

Students with enough “old” credits must get their first cycle degree, even if when they started they were aiming at a diploma only after 5 years.

The transition should be simple and the transition period should be minimized.

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Mobility I believe the first important change

we will observe is mobility. Many students will move out after the

first cycle to find a job. Some will try a second first cycle. Many students from less prestigious

universities will try their move up to more prestigious ones.

Students who have experienced Erasmus exchange on the first cycle will be attracted to pursue abroad.