As an international student, you might find that things are done differently than what you’re used to from your home country.
It might be new for you that the Danish educational system often has a very informal relationship between student and teacher. The environment in class and the amount of group work may differ from what you expect or are used to.
This page will help you figure out the wide range of activities related to studying in Denmark, getting to know the academic field and to create the appropriate framework for your studies.
"Active participation in classrooms is expected and encouraged - it is even, in some cases, the core of the teaching itself,” says Sarah Croix, an international PhD student at Arts.
The objective of active participation is to get you to reflect upon the topics and the material presented during the course. When teachers asks questions in class it is often not to test you but to get an interesting discussion going and to get an idea of how well students understand the topic.
For active participation it is essential to be well prepered before a lecture or class and to engage in group work and feedback activities.
From time to time you might be surprised by the very informal relationship between students and teachers in Denmark. For instance it is not uncommon that a student expresses clear disagreement with the teacher's ideas or methods in the classroom.
To help you navigate in the academic and social behavior we have gathered a list of what to do and what not to do.
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When everything is new it is easy to get a little bit confused but there are things you can do in order to find your footing and benefit as much as possible from your time here at the university. You might:
Study Skills For International Students (pdf). A leaflet produced by The Teaching and Learning Unit of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen. Includes chapters on reading, note-taking and writing techniques.
Method of Study for International Students. Harboe, T. and Müllen, R. von, Samfundslitteratur, 2006.
The Craft of Research. Booth, Wayne C.; Colomb, Gregory G. and Joseph M. Williams, University of Chicago Press, 2nd edition, 2003.
