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Students are accepted by a university for a particular course
of specialist study (Studiengang) before they start
The number of places for students in a course of study
is fixed by the available departmental resources
These places are filled competitively from the pool of applicants
The time planning (what is studied, when, and when it is
assessed) for an entire course of study is laid out in advance
If a student doesn't adhere to the schedule, (s)he will be
dropped from the course of study
entirely (although provision is made for `normal' deviation)
Learning is supported by staff. The tutorial system is
highly-valued: students meet once a week, individually, in pairs,
or in small groups (say, 5 students) with a teaching-staff member
(equivalent to a Privatdozent, Hochschuldozent
or Professor) once a week to discuss
individual work and difficulties in course work. Tutorials cannot
be supported by all universities, because of cost.
Teaching staff are also available individually to students to varying
degrees, depending on whether the tutorial system is followed and
on other university learning structure
Courses are often supported by text books, which are followed
to varying degrees depending on course and university
Courses are officially compared across universities; there are
often standard curricula for technical subjects, which are
accredited by the
professional societies. These curricula consist of individual
courses, which at the lower levels (equivalent to, say,
Vordiplom) also are similar in content across universities.
Student assessment varies,
but is usually by means of three-hour written
examinations (Klausuren).
These examinations are taken usually at the end of
the second and third years, with a set of first-year exams to
discover those who are unlikely successfully to complete the
course of study. There are large variations (my entire Oxford degree
depended on taking 7 three-hour written papers, as they are
called there, within 5 specific
days set in advance at the end of my third year; the historians
took 11 such papers in 5.5 days...)
Teaching, learning, and achievement are also assessed by
experts from outside the university, usually academic staff from
other universities.
Teaching and learning are assessed in Teaching
Quality Assessment Reports, prepared by such outside experts
for the national government body
responsible for overall funding (HEFCE).
These reports are publically available -- see, for example,
Quality Assessment Report for University of York Computing (1994).
Such assessments
occur every few years. Also, achievement is assessed for every student
for every course of study (Studiengang).
An outside examiner is
appointed from another university to each faculty
to control the quality and uniformity of the degrees awarded in
that faculty. Overall student-achievement results are compared
across universities
Teaching quality is formally assessed by students
in varying ways depending on
the university and individual faculty.
When I was at Oxford in 1970-73, there was no
formal assessment of teaching by students. In York now, there are annual
assessments of teaching. Such formal assessments are
used to inflence curriculum, the Teaching Quality Assessment
Report, and influence the teaching of individual professors and
graduate students
Students finish a Bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor
of Science) in their course of study in 3 or 4 years. Afterwards,
one may pursue postgraduate study, usually towards a
Master's (Master of Arts, Master of Science)
degree, which involves a further, more specialised,
course of study for 1 or 2 years.
To obtain a research degree, a PhD or D.Phil,
one must be admitted
as a graduate student: there are usually no course requirements;
one pursues research under supervision of an individual advisor,
Doktorvater, and writes (and defends by oral examination,
Prüfung) one's
thesis (Doktorarbeit).
PhD's at UK universities are of a generally
comparable standard to those in Germany.
Students enter university at 18 (17 or 19 is not uncommon, 14
is not unknown!) and finish a Bachelor's degree
when they are 21 or 22.
A Bachelor's is more than a Vordiplom at Bielefeld,
but less than a Diplom
Diplom degrees in my group RVS can be equivalent to good
Master's
degrees from good universities in the UK. Or less. But UK students
will typically attain that level when they are 22 or 23. PhD's
are typically obtained at age Bachelor's + 3/4 = 25-27
Proactive steps are taken to introduce students
to the task of studying and learning at a university. This
consists of a more formal course structure and monitoring of
progress. Positive steps are often taken to avoid drop-outs
or loss of motivation.
30 years ago, universities were elite institutions catering to
2-3% of school-leavers. Today they cater to about 20% and the
goals are 30% and higher.
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Students are accepted by a university on the basis of overall
performance, but not for a particular course of study (a major)
Students will typically complete 2-3 semesters of courses,
both preliminary courses for their major and `general' courses
outside their major, before applying to enter their major
The number of places for students in a major is fixed by the
available departmental resources
Places in a major are filled competitively from the pool of
applicants
The time planning (what is studied, when, and when it is
assessed) for an entire course of study, which includes
both courses in the major as well as other courses outside
the major taken to satisfy the breadth requirement,
is recommended but not enforced
After matriculation (admittance) to a university, students
enrol for each individual semester. During a semester in which
they are enrolled, they are required to undertake a
`full load' of courses if they are full-time students.
Course load is measured in units corresponding to
hours per week of class time (Semesterwochenstunden),
and is usually 12 units for full-time study.
There are no specific requisites as to which courses must be
taken when; but, because of course sequences required for
particular subjects, in practice the choice is constrained for
those who wish to follow a certain major
One may drop (resign from) courses, or even the entire
semester, within the first few weeks of any semester.
Beyond this period, a student must stay in and be assessed (obtain
a grade, eine Note).
If a student does poorly in a course,
(s)he may usually reenroll in the same course in a later
semester (up to a limit), to try to improve hisher grade.
Learning in the lower division (first four semesters,
Vordiplom)
is supported by graduate-student teaching assistants, who hold
tutorial classes of 15-25 students for one hour, twice a week,
per course, in which the course work of the students and the answers
to the `homework' is discussed in detail. For a basis course in
computer science, 3 hours of lecture plus two hours of tutorial
(and/or laboratory work) per week is common.
All teachers (professors, lecturers and graduate students) hold
office hours (Sprechstunden) - usually three per week -
during which they are available for individual consultation by students
Courses are supported by an explicit `required' text
book, which for lower-division
courses is often followed very closely (which parts of which
chapters in which lectures is determined often in advance, often
by faculty committee, to ensure uniformity of student preparation)
Courses are officially compared -and exchangeable-
across universities;
there are mostly standard curricula for technical subjects, which
are often determined by the professional societies. These curricula
consist of individual courses, which in the lower division
(roughly equivalent to Vordiplom) are at least similar and often
identical in content
Course credit (attendance with grade) is
transferable across universities;
each university will assess the transcript (record of study,
Studienbuch) of
a `transferring' student, to determine and give credit for the
`equivalent' series of courses at the university. Thus a student
may complete a Bachelor's degree with a major
in computer science
at, say, the University of California at Berkeley, by having
studied at one or two other universities or junior colleges
(four-semester colleges for the lower division)
along the way
Curriculum and overall teaching quality is assessed by `outside'
experts. A university obtains
an accreditation for a course of study; these accreditations
are renewed upon a (say) 5-yearly review of the departmental teaching
by a panel of experts normally from other universities
Student achievement is assessed by grades, given per
individual course. A grading formula may be determined
(within limits) by the individual
instructor, even though the course syllabus may be rigidly
determined by the faculty. Grades depend on homework (normally
given per week), an in-class one-hour `midterm' written
examination
(Klausur), and a `final' three-hour written examination
(Klausur) given in finals week immediately after the
end of the semester teaching period.
A course taken is therefore assessed immediately and dynamically,
and the course of study is assessed contemporaneously
Progress in a curriculum is often dependent on specific course
sequences: one may only enrol in a certain courses if one has
successfully completed the prerequisite courses; e.g., one
must complete Calculus I successfully before being able to enrol
in Calculus II.
All teaching is formally assessed by students: each course and
each tutorial class
each semester. These assessments are used to control the
curriculum, the quality of teaching, and influence the teaching of
individual professors and graduate students
Students finish a Bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Arts,
Bachelor of Science) in their course of study
typically in 8 semesters.
These 8 semesters may be consecutive or may be spread over
many years. But in each semester, if one is a full-time student,
one must take a full load of courses.
Part-time students, for example those
who take courses in the evenings after their job ends, will take
longer to complete their degrees. Afterwards,
one may pursue graduate study, including a Master's
(Master of Arts, Master of Science), a further, more
specialised, course of study for 2 or 4 semesters; or a PhD
(Doktorat)
Students often enter university at 17 or 18, but a significant
number also enter through their 20's, 30's and 40's.
A Bachelor's is more than a Vordiplom at Bielefeld,
but less than a Diplom
To obtain a research degree, a PhD, one must be admitted
as a graduate student: there are usually four semesters of
course/seminar requirements at the best universities, plus
exams: usually some general `preliminary' exams (in addition to
those final exams in the courses) to test the overall knowledge in
the speciality, plus a more specialist oral
qualifying examination in the subject matter of the chosen
thesis topic, to ensure a
candidate is capable of doing original research in that topic.
The exams are stringent and based on objective achievement rather
than comparison, and a significant proportion of students may fail.
There is usually a requirement for one or two foreign-language
exams: demonstration of ability to understand and translate
specialist work in one's area in foreign languages. Then,
one pursues research under supervision of an individual advisor
(Doktorvater), and writes (and defends by oral examination) one's
thesis (Doktorarbeit), in however long a time it takes.
Diplom degrees in my group RVS can be equivalent to good
Master's degrees
from good universities in the US. Or less. But US students
will typically attain that level when they are 22 or 23. PhD's
are obtained at any age: 4-10 years is `normal', with high variance.
10-15 years was not uncommon in some universities at some times.
PhD's at the best universities are of the standard of a good
Habilitation -- and the very best of them can be better.
Steps are taken to introduce students
to the task of studying and learning at a university. There are
special programs and formal advice for beginning students, and
there is a formal course structure with close monitoring of
course enrollment and
achievement. Semester drop-outs occur within a few weeks of the
beginning of the semester (when they are permitted to do so);
but reentry for succeeding semesters is often automatic,
often just a
formality. Once accepted (matriculated) at a university,
students have great
flexibility `in the large' to study or to do something else;
within a particular semester, after the first two weeks they are
constrained to pursue their course work and exams in the full
load they have enrolled for
Public (state-supported) universities usually come in two tiers:
for example, the University of California
accepts 5-10% of the top achievers in high school
(Schule, including academic high school, Gymnasium)
competitively; the California State University accepts any in the
top 50% of school-leavers.
(The University of California is a completely
independent entity of the state, being controlled only by its
charter and its Board of Regents: the Governor or state government
has no power over it -- except for allocating it part of the state
budget, and it may in principle be taken to court for abusing its
charter. In contrast, the California State University is a branch of
the state government).
The University of California grants research degrees (PhD's) to
its graduate students; the State University grants Master's but
no research degrees. In addition, there are Junior Colleges
which support intensively the lower division curricula (first
four semesters) for the universities, as well as providing other
sorts of courses for those wanting to take them. Many students
find better teaching support for the lower division at the
junior colleges than they do at the universities; they then
`transfer' to universities for the upper division (final
four semesters: Junior and Senior years; maybe
different universities for Junior and Senior)
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Students are accepted by a university provided they have an
Abitur (certificate of successful completion by examination
of studies in an academic school).
Although individuals with Abitur have a legal right to
study at university, they may not be able to do so at their
first-choice university
There is no formal record of which subject students may wish to
specialise in, so alternative universities are assigned without
assessing this need
The number of places for students in a Studiengang
(course of study) is not fixed
by the available departmental resources -- students may enter
(and leave) at will
There is usually a recommended time plan for the Studiengang:
in practice, almost no students adhere to it.
If a student doesn't adhere to the overall schedule, there are no
formal consequences. There may be particular requirements for
completing BlockPrüfungen (block exams), or
for finishing a Diplomarbeit (undergraduate thesis),
within a certain time
after Anmeldung (formal application for the process),
but such applications may be made without time
constraint, and there is rarely a requirement for continual
progress in study.
Learning is on an individual basis and traditionally not supported
by university teaching staff except through one Sprechstunde
(office hour) per week per teacher for individual discussion
A Vorlesung (lecture course)
in a technical subject is often supported by a written
Skript (lecture notes) or by text books, which
lectures may or may not follow more-or-less closely:
this is up to the individual professor
Courses are not compared at all officially across universities;
there are no standard curricula, or even recommended curricula,
for technical subjects; Diplom degrees are accredited
(anerkannt) by
professional societies as professional qualifications
Student assessment is usually by means of Prüfungen,
oral exams assessed by individual professors,
administered by direct arrangement between student and professor.
There is no specific requirement that a student
is enabled to find a willing examiner or take an exam within a
preferred or determined time. These exams are taken by opportunity
and individual student desire throughout the study period.
Prerequisite courses must have been attended (literally -
`listened to', zugehört).
Exams in the Hauptstudium (roughly: upper division)
may have contents agreed on an individual basis with the
examining professor: great flexibility is possible.
There is no outside assessment, and rarely even inside assessment,
of teaching, learning, or achievement, either by students or by
teaching staff. It is regarded as
socially inappropriate for professors to comment on each other's
courses. There is no objective comparison of student achievement
across universities.
Teaching quality is not assessed by students.
In the Studiengang `Naturwissenschaftliche
Informatik' (`Computer Science for Natural Science')
in Bielefeld, an
experimental assessment procedure was once attempted in a special
program funded by the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine -
Westphalia). It was not
continued beyond one semester. The student organisation
(`Fachschaft') in the Faculty of Technology
has shown little interest in organising an evaluation
of my lectures and seminars.
Students finish a Diplom
degree in their course of study often in
5-6 years, although 8 is relatively common and more is not
unknown. There is with few
exceptions no further study: one may get a paid
research job as Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
(`scientific employee')
with a professor, or in rarer cases obtain a stipend
(Stipendium) from the state or national government,
to pursue a Doktorat (PhD) qualification.
To obtain a research degree, a Doktorat,
one must present a Doktorarbeit (thesis)
supervised by a Doktorvater (advisor)
and examined by other
faculty members as well as evaluated by referees. Traditionally,
either examiners or referees or both may come from outside the
faculty or university. A Doktorat is roughly comparable
with a UK PhD or DPhil,
but not necessarily with the best US PhD's. A further
research degree-by-thesis, the Habilitation, is normally
required to obtain a permanent academic job as Professor or
Hochschuldozent (Lecturer)
Students enter university at 19 or 20 (men a year later than
women, because of military service) and typically finish a Diplom
when they are 25-30. Students in the Grundstudium (first half)
are
typically 20-25 and those in the Hauptstudium typically 23-28.
Diplom degrees in my group RVS can be equivalent to good
Master's
degrees from good universities in the UK. Or less. But UK students
will typically attain that level when they are 22 or 23.
are typically obtained at age Diplom + 3/4 years.
No formal steps are taken to introduce students to the task
of studying and learning at a university. The student societies
organise `orientation weeks' for new students before they begin
studies, which are comparable to or better than those at UK or US
universities, and which are supported on a voluntary basis by
teaching staff. Some resources are available
for those who believe they are having trouble and wish to do
better. No steps are taken to avoid drop-outs or loss of motivation.
Students tend not to `drop out', but simply to suspend active study,
and may or may not return to active study. Whatever their state,
no distinction is made on university documents. There is thus no
real official distinction between truly active students and dropouts
(temporary or permanent)
Universities are elite institutions catering to the top X% of
those with an Abitur.
However, various degrees of further education
are available to almost all school-leavers. One may attend a
Fachhochschule, similar to what were formerly Polytechnics
in the
UK, to obtain practical experience and training in science and
applications, also engineering, business, art, design, social
studies, counselling, etc. There are also a huge variety of
guild qualifications for all aspects of business life, from
shop assistants to car mechanics to bookkeepers to restaurateurs,
which are taken seriously by those professions. The guild system
is more highly developed than in other countries and widely
admired, if not envied, throughout Europe.
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