Teaching at the Department of Political Science takes various forms throughout the study. Below we describe the most common forms.
Lectures are normally held for whole year groups in large auditoriums. Thus, each lecture are attended by up to 250 students. The lectures consist in the teacher giving an introductory presentation of a given subject.
Tuition in smaller groups or classes enables students to discuss and ask questions about curriculum and lectures. Each class consists of 25-30 students. Tuition may be conducted either by faculty members or by student teachers, i.e. more senior students of political science. Tuition by student teachers is always closely connected with specific lectures on the subject in question. Thus, class tuition always builds upon presentations by individual reading groups.
Seminars is a teaching form which is primarily practised at master level, but also to a minor degree in the second semester of the social science programme and in the fifth and sixth semester of the political science programme. Seminars are a form of teaching where lecturers from the department teach groups of 17-30 students 2-3 hours a week for one semester, in specific subject areas offered by the lecturers themselves. Therefore, seminars facilitate in-depth investigation of more well-defined topics of inquiry. Seminars presuppose active participation by students in the form of student presentations and constructive constibutions to discussions.