Study Planning
An academic unit organizes studies in such a way as to enable every student to complete their university studies during the nominal duration of the study programme. Studies are planned in such a way that the workload during the period of study is distributed evenly and students are able to take all compulsory courses during the official length of the study period in the form of contact learning. The academic unit must compile a nominal division for each study programme version and make it available to students in SIS.
Study programme is the source document of studies which defines the learning objectives, including the expected learning outcomes; the nominal period and volume of studies; the preconditions for commencing studies; the list of courses and their assigned credit points; short descriptions, options and conditions thereof; the specialization possibilities and the conditions for the completion of studies.
Study programmes consist of courses that are grouped into modules. The structure of the modules allows students of the first and second level of higher education to specialise in a main field of study and may enable students to choose a minor field of study.
Curricular subjects are divided into:
1) Compulsory courses;
2) Elective courses that can be selected from the list of courses provided in the study programme;
3) Open elective courses that can be freely selected from the list of courses/extracurricular courses of the same level of study programmes of different universities.
- A course description provides a brief introduction to the course in Estonian and English in the public view of SIS. The purpose of the course description is to inform the learners of the course, learning outcomes, forms of assessment of learning outcomes of the course and other data. The course descriptions of the forthcoming semester shall be formalized and revised no later than the last day of the month of March.
- A course programme is a document that defines the content and achievement requirements of a subject where, in addition to the information given in the course description, the responsible teacher also establishes the requirements for participation, independent work, sitting and passing examination/assessment, principles and criteria of assessment; outlines the times, topics and participation requirements for seminar work; lists compulsory and replacement literature; describes the content of the course and presents other information necessary for the participation in, and completion of the course. The course programmes are made public in SIS no later than during the preliminary week of the semester. Within one week of the start of the first contact session (for courses that don't involve contact-learning within one week of the start of the course) the course programme may be updated in SIS, based on agreements reached with the students.
The study load is calculated in credit points. A credit point (hereinafter ECTS credit) is a calculated unit of study used for calculating the study load. One ECTS credit is equivalent to 26 hours of work performed by a student, including up to 13 hours of contact learning and at least 13 hours of independent work.
Subjects and their descriptions are available in the Studies Information System.
Scheduling compulsory subjects and electives
- When scheduling studies, it should be considered that not all subjects offered in the curriculum are taught in the form of contact studies. Most compulsory subjects are taught in contact study form, but this is not always the case for electives and open electives.
- In selecting open electives, the student shall consider his/her development needs and whether his/her foreign and Estonian language proficiency and computer skills correspond to the requirements of the study programme.
- The student shall select open electives from the same level of study. In exceptional circumstances, the student shall have the right to take subjects from the previous or next level of study. To request for exception, a justified application shall be submitted in SIS and the decision shall be made by the head of studies of the academic unit.