Guidelines for wording and applying course prerequisites - teknat

Act number:: TEKNAT 2020/342
Decision maker:: Faculty Board of Science and Technology
Processing body:: Office for Science and Technology
Contact:: Susanne Paul
Document type:: Guidelines
Category:: First- and second-cycle education
Decision date:: 11 May 2023
Reviewed:: 8 June 2023

Original document and attachments

Principles

The following apply to all departments, courses and programmes.

When it comes to prerequisites for courses, the following principles apply:

it should be clear to students and employees what applies, i.e. the prerequisites should state what is actually required at admission.
the students are expected to have acquired the knowledge from a qualifying course, even if only part of the course or participation in the course is required for admission.
a prerequisite is stated as subjects or courses or part of a course.
directors of study/subject coordinators/programme directors shall not allow a programme to add courses to the programme outline (study plan) in a way that lowers the level of the course without the approval of other programmes concerned. If the programme boards cannot reach an agreement, the matter shall be raised to the responsible educational board.

Common vocabulary

The following apply to all departments, courses and programmes.

Wording of prerequisites:

course name^[1]= course with total credits earned, i.e. completed (passed) course
participation in course = student is, or has been, registered in the course, with no consideration as to whether any credits have been earned yet^[2]
part of course = the minimum number of credits that must have already been completed^[3]
number of credits = this number of credits must have been completed, unless otherwise specified^[4]
can be taken in parallel = may be taken at the same time or can be taken earlier (in such case completion of the course is not required; registration is sufficient). This formulation should be used restrictively.

_{[1] Course names are written with the full course name and capital letter on introductory words in both Swedish and English (normally no course codes or abbreviations are used on course names).}

_{[2] The course instance of the qualifying course must have a period that ends before the subsequent course begins.}

_{[3] If the qualifying course consists of 8 credits examination and 2 credits laboratory work, a heightened requirement can be 2 credits from the course. No re-examination session then needs to have been offered beforehand. A suggestion for wording is “Participation in course A, of which 2 credits must have been completed.”}

_{[4] E.g. “60 credits” means that 60 credits must have been completed (which does not have to be through completed courses). Example: 60 credits in chemistry (main field of study/field of study is stated according to credit requirements and written in lowercase both in Swedish and English). Participation in number of credits that are not specific courses are not used. 5 “Completed courses of 120 credits" are used if requirements for completed courses equivalent to 120 credits are meant, otherwise the credits may come from unfinished courses. Completed courses, are used restrictively and only at the scope of 120 credits or higher.}

Course level

In the course syllabus, the education cycle and in-depth level within the main field(s) of study is indicated by a number of codes (G1N, G1F, G2F, G2E, A1N, A1F, A1E and A2E). For courses with several main fields of study, one and the same level is stated for all main fields of study. The course levels, G2E, A1E and A2E are only used for the independent project/degree project at basic (Bachelor’s) and advanced level (Master’s level) respectively.

Other course levels are normally given based on the prerequisites of the course:

for a course to be at G1N level, only prerequisites from upper-secondary level is required
for a course to be at G1F level, a course or credits at the basic (Bachelor’s) level is required
for a course to be at G2F level 60 completed credits are required. In addition, there may be specific requirements
for a course to be at A1N level, 120 completed credits are required5
for a course to be at A1F level, 120 completed credits are required as well as a course or credits at A1N level, where participation in is sufficient^[5].

_{[5] Participation in a course (the entire course) is required, it is not enough that that a course is taken in parallel.}

How to handle courses with prerequisites that have not been adapted to these guidelines

All courses at the faculty should be formulated and applied according to these guidelines. If it is noticed that any course has not been adapted according to the guidelines, the department should contact the senior educational officer as soon as possible for information about handling. In cases where the entry cannot be adjusted promptly, the following rules are used to handle the prerequisites (in the case of admission with conditions), after approval by the Student Affairs Office (request via the senior educational officer):

if a qualifying course is during the period before the course in question, registration in the course is sufficient. Alternatively, a credit-earning component of this is early enough in the course for there to be time for its correction and supplementation.
if the qualifying course has not had at least one reexamination session with enough time for correction, a passed examination cannot be required. Part of course can be required.
even if only part of course or registration in course is required for admission, the teacher may expect that the student has acquired the knowledge from this course.

Appendix 1: To keep in mind when working with course prerequisites

For everyone to keep in mind

the same prerequisites apply for all programmes and freestanding courses, regardless of whether some have had multiple re-examinations in the qualifying course and others have not.
it is important that directors of study/subject coordinators/programme directors do not allow a programme to add courses to the study plan in a way that lowers the level of the course without the approval of relevant programme boards. If the programme boards cannot reach an agreement, the matter shall be raised to the responsible educational board.

Suggestions of things that programme boards and departments should keep in mind

The following is not compulsory.

Programme boards and departments could decide on the following:

when general prerequisites of the type “10 credits in mathematics and 20 credits in computer science” or “30 credits in an engineering programme and registration in course NN” are considered acceptable.^[6]
whether part of course should be required rather than completed course or registration in course.
whether completed course or registration in course should be an entry requirement. In cases where the prerequisite is participation in course, it is recommended that course(s) from earlier in the entry requirement chain are required as completed course (which must then be written into the course syllabus).^[7]
whether the students are to have the opportunity for one or more re-examination sessions for a course to be included in the prerequisite as a completed course^[8] before the subsequent course can be given.

_{[6] Either number of credits earned in total or completed courses, cf. “120 credits in mathematics” versus “120 credits from completed courses in mathematics”.}

_{[7] Course A requires participation in course B. Course C requires participation in course A. In such case, course C should also require completion of course B (if possible).}

_{[8] Where there is enough time to enable examination correction before the start of the period, even with a correction time of 25 days.}