Academic Differences

□ ACADEMIC DIFFERENCES:

The academics at the University of Jyvaskyla are similar to those at Maryville College. They offer lecture courses - with each lecture course having an exam at the end that the students must pass.  At the University of Jyvaskyla there are also reading courses. In these courses the students read literature specifically agreed on with the lecturer/professor, write essays and/or take a written examination after completing the necessary readings. In addition to lecture and reading courses, departments organize seminars, instruction given in small groups introducing students to independent research, as well as laboratory work in natural sciences and other kinds of practical classes, and written assignments. The classroom culture seems to be about the same in both places. Students are encouraged to ask questions both in and out of the classroom.  The University of Jyvaskyla’s academic year consists of an autumn and spring semester. The autumn semester is from September 1^st to December 31^st. The spring semester is from January 1^st to May 31^st. The teachers expect the student’s best performance in classes as well as on examinations. The relationship between students and teachers in Finland is quite informal. Both students and teachers like to consider one another as equals.

□ CREDITS: 

From what I can tell it seems that most classes range from 4-8 ECTS, which is about 2-4 US College Credit Hours, with the most common being 6 ECTS (3 US credits). The workload and credits are valued different from Maryville College.  One ECTS credit corresponds to approximately 27 hours of work.  I could not find how many hours/week the courses meet for a regular semester, but for my summer program the classes meet Monday-Friday for about 6 hours. This is because each class only lasts a week.

1 ECTS = about 0.50 US Credits.

□ GRADES: 

 The University of Jyvaskyla uses the grading scale from 1 to 5, with 1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest. The grading scale is as follows:

University of Jyväskylä scale	ECTS grading scale
5 (excellent)	A
4 (very good)	B
3 (good)	C
2 (satisfactory)	D
1 (sufficient)	E
0 (fail)	FX,F

□ SUPPORT:

 Exchange students can contact the departmental coordinators for departmental study counseling. The specialists of the student union is also available to help students with problems related to their studies.

□ FULL-TIME STATUS:

To be considered a full time student for one academic year at the University of Jyvaskyla the student must take 60 ECTS credits (30 ECTS credits per semester). To be a full time student at Maryville College the student must take 12 credit hours per semester. At Maryville College the minimum number of courses a student must take to be full time is 4 courses. At the University of Jyvaskyla the minimum number of courses a student must take to be full time is 5, but it depends on how many credits the course is worth.