Student review [#4621]
at University College of Northern Denmark - UCN

To begin with, I think that problem-based learning -method is a fantastic way to go. Learning through projects based on real-life problems give a good opportunity to educate yourself in an environment which prepares you for the future. Also, minimizing the amount exams and increasing the number of projects is definitely something positive especially when comprehension and understanding are what is needed in the modern society. I believe that educations based on memorising and scoring well on countless exams are not really measuring anything else than how good one is memorising a lot of detailed information in a short time. UCN’s approach is more up to date in today’s world -offering students a way to show their overall understanding by intertwining subjects to a whole, just like in real life. And isn’t real life our goal with education?
However, there are a few points which have made me to give only 2 stars to NAKU. Firstly, I think that I was expecting a higher level of the teaching. It has felt like that only every now and then I leave a class with a feeling that it was worth to come instead of just reading the material for the day. I am expecting more in-depth teaching as well as higher-level English in institutions for higher education. Secondly, I think NAKU is lacking in sufficient feedback. Sometimes I feel that students are treated a bit like little ducklings that have to be protected from “negative”/constructive feedback. However, it is difficult to perform better and reach bigger goals and even think about surviving in Masters programs if constructive feedback is missing. Also, the lack of individual assignments leads to a situation where some students work a lot harder than others but are given the same feedback/grades. Unfortunately, it is true that there are students that have completely ridden on the wave of other students without moving a finger with very insufficient skills. Lastly, I must complain about structure. It seems to me like there are many organizational problems at UCN/NAKU. It is very difficult to get information about lectures, important dates, projects etc. on time. Because of that, at least my own stress levels have risen high. Planning life around the school can be difficult when information is very hard to get on time.
All of these things together have made me come to a conclusion that UCN is a bit like a juvenile as an organization. It has potential to grow up but at the moment it still needs to put its energy into fixing fundamental problems. I feel like it is very easy to get a degree out but I would not feel very proud of it.