Planning and running courses: Course leader

If, in addition, you are an examiner, see also Examiner.

Summary checklist for course leaders

• Bibliography for the course is available no later than 8 weeks before the start of the course.
• General timetable for the course is available no later than 4 weeks before the start of the course.
• The students are offered self-registration or are registered in Ladok by the course coordinating department no later than 3 working days after the start of the course.
• The course objectives and grading criteria are outlined to the students at the beginning of the course.
• The students are informed about previous course evaluations (outcome and any action).
• The students are told how the course will be evaluated. A student representative is appointed.
• Examinations are marked and returned no later than 15 working days after the examination date.
• The students are given a review of the element examined.
• The students' results are reported in Ladok no later than 3 working days after all the elements of the course are considered to have been passed.
• A summary of the course evaluation is discussed with the student representative and published on the course page.

Detailed checklist

Eight to six months before the course period

Four to two months before the course period

From two months before the course period

During and after the course period

Eight to six months before the course period

Time available in the course schedule

Check the start and end date, as well as days that cannot be timetabled and appropriate examination dates, etc. Information about semester dates, period restrictions, non-teaching days and communal activities that must be indicated in the course timetable can be found in the academic calendar. NB: Make sure you check for campus-specific information.

Course content, intended learning outcomes and grading criteria

Check the current course syllabus and interaction with other courses.

• Experience from previous course? Review previous year's course evaluation. What worked well and what worked less well? What needs to change?
• Review the intended learning outcomes and grading criteria of the course so you can consider possible changes to the course structure.
• Compare the current course syllabus with other similar courses. How is the required progression made, how is overlapping avoided, etc.?
• What general competencies are included in the course? Contact programme director(s) of studies and/or faculty programme director to discuss whether this needs to be clarified. 

Educational method

The educational method needs to be adapted to the course content and the background and maturity of the students. Is a variation in method required? Contact the faculty programme directors, Centre for Educational Development (UPC) and/or Learning Resource Centre (LRC) in the SLU library to discuss educational methods and which support resources are required during the course. NB: Changes to examination formats require a change to the course syllabus. 

General schedule, course budget and teachers involved

A general timetable is required for planning purposes and for the course budget. Specify the task and clearly indicate the financial and practical conditions for those involved in the course.

Room booking

See Booking rooms

Four to two months before the course period

Course pages on the web

The people who are admitted as course leaders, administrators and examiners at the course in Ladok automatically receive administrator privileges for the course in Canvas and Evald.

Read more about the Course page for further information

Reading list

The selection of compulsory and supplementary literature for the course should be discussed primarily with the examiner, but also with lecturers, etc., who will be participating in the course. Check the availability of literature, web pages, etc.

Post the Reading list in Ladok no later than 8 weeks before the start of the course. At the same time, send the Reading list to the SLU library.

Continue with timetable

Book lecturers, teachers for laboratory sessions, exercises, excursions, study visits, etc. Discuss thoroughly with booked lecturers/teachers both the course content in general (i.e. the element's role in the course) and also the course content in relation to other courses (i.e. progression and any parallel courses, etc.). Decide on and justify compulsory parts of the course – within the framework of the course syllabus.

From two months before the course period

Timetable continuation

Continue booking lecturers, teachers for laboratory sessions, exercises, excursions, study visits, etc. Check room bookings.

The schedule should be available to students no later than 4 weeks before the start of the course. The schedule should be created primarily in TimeEdit. Read more about Digital Course Schedules in TimeEdit

Contact with students

Depending on which students have applied and been admitted to the course (program students, independent students, exchange students), the course leader may need to check that all course participants have received information about the course.

The students' email addresses are accessible via Canvas or Ladok. The education administrators can arrange email addresses for the admitted students for the course leaders concerned.

• Here you can also find mailing lists to programme students.

Examinations, assignments, exercises and make-up assignments

The examiner decides on examination tasks within the framework of the course syllabus.

Write/update instructions for tests, exercises, submissions, etc.

If applicable, consider substitute assignments for mandatory elements, prepare instructions for these.

Course participants

Students wishing to apply for a course after the normal application period must do so via  www.universityadmissions.se. The Division of Educational Affairs will provide students with more information about application and admission.

• Students are only entitled to participate in teaching and/or supervision for the course on which the student has been admitted and registered.
• In exceptional circumstances, a student may be entitled to attend elements requiring compulsory attendance on a later course. More information can be found in the regulations for education, section 6. Assessment and grades.

During and after the course period

Start of course

The start of the course can be organised in a number of ways: usually it takes the form of a roll-call at which the students also register on the course – see Administrator. Clear course information is important in creating good study conditions for all students:

• Present the intended course learning outcomes, content and structure, including compulsory parts.
• The final timetable and reading list are distributed no later than the start of the course.
• Provide information about the opportunities to use the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), such as group rooms, LRC technology, Wordfinder, etc.
• The previous year's course evaluation must be reviewed and any changes based on it.
• Distribute and talk through the grading criteria for the course – you must be very clear about what the criteria mean. It is important that all the requirements for passing the course are made very clear to the students.
• Go through the schedule (dates and times) for elements that will be examined and graded, for example the times of ordinary examinations and retakes, submission of reports, exercises, laboratory sessions, etc.
• Remind the students of SLU's policy and action plan on cheating and plagiarism and about any special conditions applicable to the course.
• Health and safety issues. Talk about any elements, such as field work or laboratory sessions, that involve risk of personal injury. Provide rules and measures to avoid injury.
• Clearly indicate any costs that the students must cover themselves. Section 5. Fees and costs of the regulations for education delineates responsibility between the department (faculty) and the student.
• Tell the students that electronic course evaluation is compulsory for all courses at SLU (see below).
• Electronic course evaluation in Evald requires a student representative to comment on the course evaluation in conjunction with the course management. The student representative is elected by the course participants at the start of the course and receives payment (see below).
• Tell the students about the course room in Canvas as well as how you want to communicate with the students. Stress that the students' SLU email addresses are the only acceptable addresses for email communication (no Gmail, etc.).

Students who are absent from roll-call may lose their place on the course, unless they have notified the course coordinating department in advance of special grounds for missing roll-call. The course leader will make the decision on the loss of place on the course. The start of the course for distance-learning courses and courses with flexible course starts may take a different form. Special grounds in this context are defined the regulations for education, section 6. Assessment and grades.

Student materials

You can provide files to students via Canvas. Canvas is a system that is only open to participants in the current Canvas room.

Course evaluation

Course evaluation must always be carried out by the course coordinating department. Course evaluation must take place digitally via Evald. As course evaluations are voluntary for the students it is important to inform them and to organise the course evaluation so that a high response rate is achieved. It is appropriate for the student representative to be involved in this work and in the timetabling of the course evaluation.

Results and conclusions from course evaluations must be reported digitally (in Evald) and made available to the students via the student web. The results reported are numerical results for the questions that are common to all courses, as well as a summary of the opinions of the students and teachers. The privacy of both the teachers and the students must be preserved.

Course evaluations must be followed up and used as a tool for developing the quality of courses and programmes. The course coordinating department is responsible for summarising and following up on each course evaluation, unless the responsible faculty has decided that this is to be done in a different way. A student is entitled to participate in the summarising of the course evaluation (in Evald) and will be paid a fee for each course, currently SEK 400. The course coordinating department is responsible for the payment of this fee.

The course leader and the student representative are each responsible for summarising the course evaluation no later than four weeks after the evaluation has closed. The summary should include:

1. comments on the results,
2. reasoned proposals for changes/not making changes within the context of the course syllabus,
3. reasoned proposals for changes to the course syllabus.

Result reporting

Record attendance of compulsory parts. Inform the students of examination results no later than 15 working days after each examination. Report results to the education administrator at the same time. The students' final results for the whole course are reported in Ladok no later than three working days after all the elements of the course are considered to have been passed. See also Administrator.

Other follow up

Approve invoices and carry out financial follow up on the course. Present and discuss experiences from the course with the relevant teachers and your department’s director of studies.