1: Preface

Pursuant to consolidation Act 391 of April 10, 2024 on Universities (the University Act), the following is established.

The programme also follows the Examination Policies and Procedures incl. the Joint Programme Regulations for Aalborg University.

2: Basis in Ministerial orders

The Professional Master’s Degree programme is organised in accordance with the Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s Order no. 19 of January 9, 2020 on Professional Master’s Degree Programmes, Ministerial Order no. 2272 of December 1, 2021 on Part-time University Programmes (the Part-Time Order) with subsequent change, and Ministerial Order no. 2271 of December 1, 2021 on University Examinations (the Examination Order) with subsequent change. Further reference is made to Ministerial Order no. 1125 of July 4, 2022 (the Grading Scale Order).

3: Campus

The programme is offered in Aalborg.

4: Faculty affiliation

The Masters’s programme falls under The Technical Faculty of IT and Design, Aalborg University.

5: Study board affiliation

The Master’s programme falls under Study Board of Techno-Anthropology and Sustainable Design.

6: Affiliation to corps of external examiners

The Master’s programme is associated with the external examiners corps on Civil engineering corps of external examiners.

7: Admission requirements

Admission requires that the applicant has completed a relevant qualifying programme.

Relevant qualifying programmes are:

• a relevant bachelor’s degree, for example: Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science within any field of engineering or science; Bachelor of Education.
• a relevant professional bachelor’s degree.
• a relevant medium-term higher education.
• a relevant diploma course completed as a regulated course.

Furthermore, admission requires that the applicant has 2 years of relevant work experience after completion of the qualifying programme.

Relevant work experiences are:

• professional experience in teaching or a similar occupation.

Aalborg University may allow admission to applicants who do not fulfil the admission requirements but who are considered to have the necessary prerequisites to accomplish the study programme. The requirement of relevant professional experience cannot be exempted.

8: The programme title in Danish and English

The Master’s programme entitles the graduate to the Danish designation Master i problembaseret læring i ingeniør- og naturvidenskab. The English designation is: Master of Problem Based Learning in Engineering and Science.

9: Programme specifications in ECTS credits

The Master’s programme is a 2-year, research-based, full-time study programme. The programme is set to 60 ECTS credits.

10: Rules concerning credit transfer (merit), including the possibility for choice of modules that are part of another programme at a university in Denmark or abroad

The Study Board can approve that passed programme elements from other educational programmes at the same level replaces programme elements within this programme (credit transfer).

Furthermore, the Study Board can, upon application, approve that parts of this programme is completed at another university or a further education institution in Denmark or abroad (pre-approval of credit transfer).

The Study Board’s decisions regarding credit transfer are based on an academic assessment.

11: Exemption

The Study Board’s possibilities to grant exemption, including exemption to further examination attempts and special examination conditions, are stated in the Examination Policies and Procedures published at this website: https://www.studyservice.aau.dk/rules

12: Rules for examinations

The rules for examinations are stated in the Examination Policies and Procedures published at this website:https://www.studyservice.aau.dk/rules

13: Rules concerning written work

In the assessment of all written work, regardless of the language it is written in, weight is also given to the student's formulation and spelling ability, in addition to the academic content. Orthographic and grammatical correctness as well as stylistic proficiency are taken as a basis for the evaluation of language performance. Language performance must always be included as an independent dimension of the total evaluation. However, no examination can be assessed as ‘Pass’ on the basis of good language performance alone; similarly, an examination normally cannot be assessed as ‘Fail’ on the basis of poor language performance alone.

The Board of Studies can grant exemption from this in special cases (e.g., dyslexia or a native language other than Danish).

The Master’s project must include an English summary. If the project is written in English, the summary can be in Danish. The summary is included in the evaluation of the project as a whole.

14: Requirements regarding the reading of texts in a foreign language

It is assumed that the student can read academic texts in English and use reference works, etc., in English and other European languages. 

Furthermore, it is assumed that the student has written and oral command of English, sufficient to participate in online group discussions.

15: Competence profile on the diploma

A Master has competencies that have been acquired through a course of study based on an integration of research results and practical experience.
A Master is able to fulfil highly qualified functions in business, institutions and the like, through scholarship-based personal and academic competencies.

16: Competence profile of the programme

The primary aim of this master’s program is to equip participants with the competencies to act as change agents, applying problem-based, project-organized learning across various levels and contexts within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) field.

A Graduate from the MPBL programme is expected to achieve the knowledge to:

• Explain and use educational theories of teaching and learning as well as educational research published within the contexts of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
• Differentiate between various educational research methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods as well as apply insights from educational research to improve teaching practices, curriculum development, and educational policy.

A Graduate from the MPBL programme is expected to achieve the skills to:

• Problematize diverse educational contexts and practices, in alignment with contemporary educational challenges by using relevant theories of learning and existing evidence.
• Design, implement and evaluate PBL designs as potential solutions to contemporary educational problems.
• Develop educational research protocols to evaluate PBL design and change processes, as well as critically reflect on its limitations and propose improvements.
• Manage educational change processes that are complex, unpredictable and require new educational models and collaboration with diverse stakeholders.

A Graduate from the MPBL programme is expected to achieve the competences to:

• Reflect continuously in one’s professional learning (PL), display agency to formulate learning goals, monitor and evaluate their fulfilment through the creation of, for example, PL plans.
• Disseminate, both orally and in writing, the processes and outcomes of PBL design, implementation and evaluation for institutional educational change, by adhering to scientific standards of educational research.
• Collaborate with diverse stakeholders and across contexts, or disciplines, to design and evaluate PBL based solutions to address educational problems.

17: Structure and Contents of the programme

The programme is structured in modules and organised as a problem-based study. A module is a programme element or a group of programme elements, which aims to give students a set of professional skills within a fixed time frame specified in ECTS credits, and concluding with one or more examinations within specific exam periods. Examinations are defined in the curriculum.

The programme is organized around problem-oriented projects, structured in four semesters, where participants work independently on topics of their interest and relevant for their professional learning and development. Each semester consists of a 15 ECTS project module, which comprises self-study, self-organized, team-based work supported by facilitation, thematic workshops, online study group work and seminars.

The academic progression of the programme is reflected in the semester themes and respective project work.

In semester 1, the participants work on a project related with pedagogical foundations for course and curriculum (re)design. They will discuss and reflect about historical, theoretical and pedagogical foundations of PBL, document their educational experiences, provide a road map for their professional development whilst framing the values and identity needed to change teaching and learning practice. These processes are developed through problematization of their own teaching practice and re-design of their course’s syllabi using PBL principles, and the related theories of learning.

In semester 2 the project work includes the revision and implementation of a course re-design using PBL principles as learning approach. The participants have the possibility to choose one out of four elective project modules, which reflect different educational contexts and purposes.

In semester 3 the PBL design is evaluated, where participants learn and develop skills related with scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and educational research. This provides a basis for fulfilment of educational goals and quality assurance of PBL designs that are implemented in module 4.

Semester 4 corresponds to the master’s thesis project where participants develop competences in problematizing contemporary educational challenges (e.g., employability, well-being, retention, motivation, etc.), which requires the management of complex and unpredictable change processes at course, curriculum and institutional levels. If requested, the master’s thesis project can commence in the period correspondent to last quarter of the third semester.

A total of 35 ECTS is assessed through external examination and a total of 60 ECTS is marked according to the 7-point grading scale.

TEACHING FORMAT

The programme is based on a combination of academic, problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning. Teaching formats include but may not be limited to the following methods:

• project work
• project facilitation
• thematic workshops
• seminars
• project reporting
• team based project work
• self-study activities (incl. readings)
• group-based study activities

The MPBL programme is an international, fully online programme; thus, in this programme advanced e-learning tools, including learning management platforms, video conferencing tools and other asynchronous and synchronous tools are used intensively.

18: Overview of the programme

19: Additional information

20: Commencement and transitional rules

The curriculum is approved by the dean and enters into force as of September 1, 2025,

The Study Board does not offer teaching after the previous curriculum from 2019 after the summer examination 2026.

The Study Board will offer examinations after the previous curriculum, if there are students who have used examination attempts in a module without passing. The number of examination attempts follows the rules in the Examination Order.

21: Amendments to the curriculum and regulations