Answer: Students should contact the EST academy office through the Student Centre (Swedish: Studenttorget), using the following email address:
studenttorget@mdh.se
Though this question isn't in fact frequently asked, the answer, however, is frequently given to many other questions. Questions about administrative issues should be sent to the Student Centre. Questions specific to the subject matter of a course are for me.
Answer: For each course there is an official course plan, published on the college web site. More information may be found on the course's web site.
Answer: Talk to a student counselor about that. I don't decide in these matters, but I sometimes give my opinion to the student counselors.
Answer: Probably not, but it's not my decision. Talk to a student counselor.
Answer: The date, time, and place for all lectures are published in the course schedule on the college web site. This is linked to the college's booking system. There is a link to this schedule from the course home page. The schedules for all courses given in a term are usually published on the web a few weeks before the beginning of the term. If a schedule isn't found here, it's because it hasn't been finally decided yet. Note: exam dates are published a few weeks later than the rest of the schedule, usually at the beginning of a term. Lectures may be rescheduled after the publication of the course schedule, so you should check the schedule regurlarly. Exams, however, are not rescheduled after publication.
Answer: Students register for a course on the web, in the student portal. Since August 2019, there is no longer a roll call to register students. If you have further questions regarding registration, the Student Centre (Swedish: Studenttorget) may be able to help you.
Answer: Since August 2019, there is no longer a roll call to register students. Students register for a course on the web, in the student portal. If you miss the first lecture, make sure to read everything on the course web site carefully.
Answer: The Student Centre (Swedish: Studenttorget) can check whether you are registered for a course and also answer other questions about registration.
Short answer: It's listed in the course plan.
Long answer: As soon as the course literature is decided, it's given in the course plan which can be found on the college web site. The reading list is also found on the course web site. The course plan only lists the compulsory literature while the course web site may also suggest some voluntary reading. Concerning the compulsory literature, the whole book is included unless stated otherwise in the course plan or the course manual. The course literature is decided a few weeks before the course starts, three weeks at the latest. Before it's is decided, the course plan lists the literature for the previous course opportunity, which may not be valid the next time the course is given.
Answer: I recommend that students use the edition that is listed as course literature in the course plan, which is usually the latest edition. Page numbers and numbering of exercises etc. usually differ between editions, and often the arrangement of the chapters too. New exercises are added and old ones removed. I will use the official course literature, so references to the literature in the lectures and on the course web site will be to that edition. If you use an older edition, it's your responsibility to check that nothing important is missing, e.g. by comparing with a friend's copy of the latest edition. Don't expect my help with this. The only exception is when it's specifically noted on the course web site (under the link Literature) that an older edition may be used.
Answer: The isbn number isn't important. If the author, title, and edition is the same as in the literature list, the book is ok to use. One and the same edition of a book is often published in several versions with different isbn numbers, and anyone of these will work fine. For example, there may be a hard cover version as well as a paper back version, with or without a cd-rom or an access code to extra web material, versions for the American market and versions for the European market etc., all with different isbn numbers. They differ in price and the choice is yours. If the literature list gives an isbn number, it refers to one of these versions, and usually to one of the less expensive ones, but if you find another version of the same edition that you like better, it will work fine.
Short answer: Yes, but it is not recommended.
Long answer: There are usually many good books which could be used instead of the one on the reading list. However, it usually means extra work, which you must do yourself and not pass on to me. For a very gifted and hard-working student, a more advanced book may be preferable to the official course book in some cases. Most students had better stick with the official literature. If you have a specific book in mind, you can ask me about it and if I know it, I will advise you.
Answer: In most of my courses, I have prepared lists of recommended exercises in the textbooks. If there is a list, it's on the course web site. If there is no list, it's because most exercises in the textbook are about equally suitable.
Answer: Some textbooks have solutions to problems in them, in which case you can easily find them. Some authors publish answers in documents on the book's companion web site. If I have found any answers, I provide them on the course web site or link to them on the publisher's web site for the book. If there's nothing on the course web site, I don't have any solutions.
Short answer: Find out from the course web site.
Long answer: Some publishers make solutions to exercises available only to teachers via a password protected web page. This indicates that they don't want the solution files made public. In this case, I usually provide the solutions to students on a password protected page on the course web site, in order to prevent search engines from accessing it. Instructions for how to find the password are provided on the page that links to the solutions. For example, the password may be the answer to an exercise. In this case, there are three ways to obtain the password: (i) Find the answer yourself by solving the problem in the exercise. (ii) The exercise will eventually be solved in class. Attend lectures and exercise sessions to get the solution. (iii) Ask a class mate to give you the answer. I don't give out passwords by email.
Answer: You should ask me only when you have tried very hard to solve the problem yourself and still can't figure it out. Make sure you ask after we have covered the relevant topics in class, but as soon as possible after that and before the last lecture. This is because in courses with many students, there are often several students who have problems with the same exercise. It saves a lot of work if I can show everybody the solution in class rather than help them all individually.
Answer: All lecture notes and other material about the course is published on the course web site. My lectures mostly follow the course literature quite closely, so the course book can serve as your lecture notes. When I add something important which isn't in the book, I usually write a note about it and put it on the course web site under the link Lecture notes.
Short answer: Except for the roll call at the first lecture, attendance at the lectures is not mandatory but strongly recommended.
Long answer: Attendance at the roll call during the first lecture is mandatory. If you miss it, see the answer to the question about registration above. However, the course is designed under the assumption that students attend all (or almost all) lectures. The examination covers lectures as well as literature. Therefore attendance is strongly recommended. See also the answer to the next question.
Short answer: Find out from the lecture plan and the course book, or by a friend who was there.
Long answer: Some courses at Mälardalen University are designated "distance courses". These are for people who live far from Västerås or for other reasons have trouble attending regular daytime lectures, and therefore special measures are taken to help students study from a distance. However, none of my courses are "distance courses". In my courses, students are expected to attend lectures, even though these aren't compulsory in the sense that you get punished for being absent. If you don't attend, for whatever reason, you take the responsibility and don't bother me with extra work because of it. Instead I suggest that you check the course web site for a lecture plan and possibly for lecture notes, and strike a deal with a fellow student to exchange lecture notes.
Answer: Such questions are of course welcome, but preferably asked in immediate connection with the lecture, e.g. during the lecture (interrupt me!), in the break, after the lecture, or possibly in the following lecture. If you ask me by e-mail, I will usually answer it the next lecture in class or during break. Sorting out misunderstandings is easier done face to face than by e-mail.
Answer: This is stated in the official course plan. More information is given in the course manual (Swedish: studiehandledning). Most of my courses are examined with a supervised written test at the end of the course. If there are any other parts of examination, it will be explained in the study guide, which is found on the course web site.
Answer: The date, time, and place for the exam is published in the course schedule on the college web site. This is linked to the college's booking system. There is a link to this schedule from the course home page. If there is no exam in the schedule, then no exam is planned for the current semester. Exam dates are usually published in the beginning of the semester. Until the exam date is published in the schedule, it's subject to change. Normally an exam is given three times per year: the first at the end of the course, the second about a month or two later, and the third in August. In case the first exam is at the end of spring, the second will be in august and the third in the fall. After these three exam opportunities, the next opportunity will be the next time the course is given.
Answer: No. The exam dates are decided long in advance and published on the schedule on the college web site in the beginning of each term, so that all students are properly informed about all exam opportunities. There are at least three exams in each course every year, one directly after the course, one about a month later, and one in august.
Answer: It is sometimes possible to arrange to take an exam at a different place, such as a university abroad. However, I don't handle this aspect of examination. If you are interested, contact the Student Centre (Swedish: Studenttorget) about this several weeks in advance of the exam. One condition will be that reliable supervision of the exam can be arranged.
Answer: No. All who take an exam must start at the same time. This is of course to prevent information about the exam to leak from students taking the exam early to others taking it late.
Answer: This will be written on the exam. Usually my exams have six questions with several parts (a), (b), (c), etc... Each question usually give at most five grade points, so the maximum achievable number of grade points on the exam is 30p (6x5p). With a maximum of 30 grading points, grade point requirements for the Swedish grading system are G (Pass): 15p and VG (Pass with distinction): 24p.
Short answer: Allowed aids are specified in the study guide. In addition to the aids mentioned there, you are also allowed pencils, pens, erasers and a ruler. No other aids are allowed.
Long answer: Usually a calculator and a dictionary. Any kind of calculator is allowed, but all its memory has to be erased before the exam. Storing text of formulas in the calculator is thus forbidden. Students are advised to bring a calculator with the elementary mathematical functions, i.e. powers, roots, logarithms, etc. In courses taught in English, a dictionary which translates between English and a student's native language is allowed. There must be no notes in the dictionary. Textbooks, computers, lecture notes and formula sheets are not allowed unless specifically mentioned in the course manual (Swedish: studiehandledning), which is found on the course web site.
Short answer: Everything.
Long answer: The whole course, i.e. all literature on the reading list, whether or not it has been covered in the lectures, all lectures, all lecture notes and other material on the course web site. Students may also be expected to work out some conclusions of their own which are nether in the required literature or in the lectures.
Short answer: It's secret.
Long answer: Only a sample of the course can actually be tested in the exam. For the sample to be representative, and to provide adequate incentives, the exam questions must not be known in advance. Also, fairness requires that I don't discuss the content or emphasis of the exam with individual students, verbally or in e-mail. If you have questions about the exam, bring them up in class so that everybody get a chance to hear the answer (if any). What can generally be said is that I try to use questions which resemble exercises in the course literature. There is no guarantee that questions will resemble those on old exams. Naturally the emphasis in the exam will be on what was emphasized in the lectures and the literature, i.e. the important stuff. On the other hand, there will usually be some questions about more peripheral matters also.
Answer: Yes, on the course web site. An exception is when the course is given for the first time, in which case there are no old exams.
Short answer: Only answers are given to old exams, not full solutions.
Long answer: Old exams are not part of the course material and are not intended as exercise material. That function is filled by the exercises in the course literature and any other exercises that may be provided on the course web site. Old exams are provided on the course web site because students ask for them, and so that students may form a general idea of what course examination have been like in the past. I usually provide short answers to the exam questions, so that students who have taken the exam can check their answers, but I don't provide full solutions. If you have trouble solving a problem from an old exam, I may not want to discuss it. The problem may be about something which was covered in earlier years but not this year, or it might have turned out to be ambiguous or otherwise badly formulated. If you find old exam questions too hard, I suggest that you start with the exercises in the textbook, because these often have full solutions provided in the book or on the web. If you have tried to solve an old exam problem, I can comment on your solution if you present your solution clearly in writing and send it to me by email in either of the following document formats: the portable document format (.pdf), the open document format (.odf) used by Open Office / Libre Office, or the native format of Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
Answer: Usually, there's nothing to do about it. What you hand in gets graded, and only that. If you are the only one who handed in papers without a name on them, it might be possible to deduce which sheets are yours, but don't count on it.
Answer: Teachers have 15 working days (i.e. not counting weekends and other holidays) to grade the exam. If there are no holidays except the weekends, this means 3 weeks. So far, I have graded all exams within the stated time for grading. If I ever be unable to do so, I'll write a note about it on the course web site. I never promise to grade an exam faster than the stipulated time, although that may sometimes happen.
Answer: No. I know students are anxious to know the result, but grading must be done with care, and there are other things that must be done as well. Furthermore, I don't grade one student's exam and then another, but one question in all exams, and then another. This is for fairness, to ensure that similar answers to the same question are awarded similar grades.
Answer: Yes. Soon after the grading is finished, I publish the exam along with the answers on the course web site. Usually only brief answers are given, not full solutions.
Answer: No. I never do that. However, you are allowed to write the exam again, the next time it is given. There are at least three exam opportunities per year in each course, one directly after the course, one about a month or two later, and one in august. The dates of these can be found on the schedule on the college web site.
Answer: If you failed the exam, you may take it again the next time the exam is given. However, if you passed the exam you are not allowed to take it again for a higher grade. This rule is decided by the vice chancellor of the college and applies to all courses at the college. The same rule applies at most Swedish colleges.
Short answer: Don't.
Long answer: Students who believe that there is an error in the grading of their exam have the right to file a complaint and request a review of the grading. This rule is good in principle, but is heavily abused. I receive a few complaints every year, and so far every one of these has been abuse, without a shadow of a case. I have never changed a student's grade after a complaint and I intend to keep it that way. Of course there might be legitimate causes for complaint. E.g. if you have handed in a good solution to a problem and a correct answer, but I have simply missed it, or forgot to grade it. On the other hand, if you have made a mistake, it's a matter of judgement how many points, if any, should be awarded, and it's my judgement that counts; there's no point whatsoever to complain. You should also know that if you were just below a pass mark, I have already carefully reviewed your exam, looking for possibilities to raise your grade to a pass, but failed to find any. If you decide to file a complaint, you must argue your point in writing, using a form titled Request for review of grading decision (in Swedish Begäran om omprövning av betygsbeslut), found on the college web site. Then await my (almost surely negative) decision.
If you just want a second opinion on the grading of your exam, the head teacher in economics, Christos Papahristodoulou, offers to review the grading of exams in economics. Be aware, however, that unless he is the designated examiner in the course, he cannot change the grade.
Answer: I sometimes write recommendation letters for students whom I have learnt to know a little bit and who have performed well in my courses. Typically, these are students who have written a bachelor thesis with me as their advisor. At the very least, I require that the student has taken two courses for me with very good results. If you would like me to write a letter of recommendation, send me an e-mail with all relevant information about yourself, including:
Contents by Johan Lindén Revised: 2020-05-29