ACIT4090 Globalisation of Technology Course description

LEARNING METHODS

Lectures on the curriculum, along with student-led seminars. In seminars students work in groups where they discuss given seminar assignments. In each group, a student is assigned to write a report on the seminar discussion. If exchange students attend the course, lectures and seminars will be held in English.

REQUIREMENTS

Students may sit exam only if the following requirements are met:

• Submitting two individual seminar assignments - each being a 2-page report of a seminar group discussion. Assignments are graded pass/fail.
• Attending at least 70% of seminars.

The purpose of the above is to ensure that students engage actively with the curriculum during the course, and share insights and reflections with each other. Self-study cannot substitute for the imparting of knowledge and learning through class-room activity, and group-based and student-led learning is of particular importance. The individual student must be present in the seminars in which s/he is tasked with writing reports.

Students attending less than 50% of seminars automatically forfeit the right to sit exam, no matter the reason for absence.

A student who fails the 70% attendance requirement, or who fails to submit his/her reports by deadline - but does have legitimate grounds for such failure - may request an additional assignment: a paper of 2,000 words, on a title given by the teacher, to be submitted within 72 hours of issue. The same applies to a student who does submit her/his reports in time, but does not pass.

ASSESSMENT

30 minutes’ individual oral examination. The student randomly draws 6 assignments from a basket containing all those discussed in seminars, and then selects 3 out of the 6 for examination.

New/postponed exam:

In case of failed exam or absence on legitimate grounds, the student can apply for a new or postponed exam. New/postponed exam is offered within a reasonable time span following the regular exam. The student is responsible for applying for a new/postponed exam as per the regulations set by OsloMet.

None.

A graded scale from A to E for passed, and F for not passed.

The project report counts 100% of the final grade. The project report must have the following extent:

• 6 000 words (+/-20%) if one writes alone
• 9 000 words (+/-20%) if two collaborate
• 12 000 words (+/-20%) if three collaborate

More than three students cannot write together. Further guidelines will be given when the course starts. The exams can be appealed.

New/postponed exam

In case of failed exam or legal absence, the student may apply for a new or postponed exam. New or postponed exams are offered within a reasonable time span following the regular exam. The student is responsible for registering for a new/postponed exam within the time limits set by OsloMet. The Regulations for new or postponed examinations are available in Regulations relating to studies and examinations at OsloMet.

Simon Pahle.

The course is open to third-year Bachelor students in Development Studies at HiOA, and exchange students. Exchange students must have completed at least a one-year introductory course in Development Studies.

CONTENTS

• Main features of the global aid industry: Actors and channels of finance; geographic and thematic destinations of aid; paradigms in and major debates about aid.
• Norwegian aid in perspective: Features of public development policy from the 1980s and up to the present, in comparative perspective; the approach and work of select non-governmental organisations.
• New actors, interventions and partnership types: Developing country donors; policy coherence and coordination including SDGs; advocacy and transnational activism; and corporate social responsibility.
• 21st century trends: «Securitization», «environmentalization» and «commercification» of aid; effectiveness, evaluability and result based management in aid.
• The politics of representation: The ways in which main actors in the development enterprise present development challenges; their own work and contributions; and the debates this gives rise to.

Assistant Professor Nuno Marques