Mandatory coursework in higher Norwegian IT education

Abstract

Obligatory exercise, mandatory activity and work requirement are all examples of terms describing the same phenomenon in higher Norwegian education: Something a student needs to pass in order to get access to an exam. In this paper we call them mandatory coursework in alignment with relevant existing research. Some argue that mandatory coursework assignments can, and should, be eliminated. Before we can discuss this within Norwegian IT education, we need to know to what extent mandatory coursework is in use. A course description should describe any mandatory coursework within a course. In this paper we present extracted data from course descriptions from 12 institutions delivering IT education in Norway. The data tells us the frequency in which mandatory coursework is in use, the different types used, how many there are, in what stages within a study programme they are most commonly in use and the variation between the 12 institutions. The results tell us that mandatory coursework to a large extent is in use in Norwegian IT education, although there are significant variations among the different institutions. The most common coursework are labs, assignments and submissions, but participation is also quite common. Mandatory coursework is in use in both bachelor and master programmes with year one in a study as the most coursework intensive.