MALKA217 Early Intervention for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders Course description

The increasing globalization of the labour market makes international experience and knowledge of languages and cultures increasingly important. Internationalization contributes to raising the quality of education and strengthens the academic community relating to the master’s program, at the same time as it strengthens the students as global citizens.

The Program for Behavioral Science has teaching and research collaboration projects and agreements with several foreign institutions of higher education. We encourage students to take a part of their master`s degree at one of our collaborating institutions, subject to the approval of the Head of Studies. A prerequisite for approval of the exchange is that the coursework is interchangeable with courses in our master’s program.

The recommended options for international exchange are the 3rd semester.

Courses open to exchange students

The following courses are open to exchange students:

• MALKA211 Introduction to Behavior Analysis, 10 ECTS
• MALKA212 Refinement of Behavior Analytic Terms, 10 ECTS
• MALKA213 Laboratory Exercises – Experimental Analysis of Behavior,10 ECTS
• MALKA215 Complex Human Behavior, 10 ECTS
• MALKA217 Early Intervention for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, 10 ECTS
• MALKA218 Ethical Considerations in Applied Behavior Analysis, 10 ECTS
• MALKA219 Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), 10 ECTS
• MALKA220 Behavioral Economics, 10 ECTS
• MALKA222 Clinical Behavior Analysis,10 ECTS

Exchange students should have basic competence or a strong interest in behavior analysis.

Of these courses, MALKA213 is always taught in English. The others are taught in English when international students attend the course, otherwise they are mainly taught in Norwegian.

Required reading is primarily in English.

All courses except MALKA213, MALKA214 and MALKA218 have one or more coursework requirements. Each assignment is graded Approved/Not approved. All assignments must be approved before the student can sit for the exam in each course.

Written assignments

The assignments are submitted digitally, and written feedback is delivered in the same electronic platform. When the coursework requirement is delivered according to deadlines in the course schedule the student has the right to receive feedback on the assignment. Assignments not submitted within the set deadline will be considered failed.

A student may submit the same obligatory assignment a maximum of three times. Failed assignments must be reworked before resubmission. If the second submission fails, the student is not eligible for the regular examination. The student is entitled to a third attempt before new/deferred exam.

If one or more assignments are not approved after three attempts, the student must attend the course the next time it is arranged, usually the subsequent year. Application for a fourth and final attempt to complete the assignment to sit for the exam are decided on an individual basis by the study administration in cooperation with the person responsible for the course.

All coursework in writing, including master’s theses, undergoes automatic plagiarism control on submission.

Attendance requirements

While there is no attendance required for lectures, this is a demanding program, and steady work is required throughout the courses.

Two research ethics seminars are 100 % attendance required before the thesis outline can be submitted. The seminars are taken place digitally and held annually, one each semester. It is recommended to complete the seminars during the first year of studies.

Students in the Innovation and Implementation specialisation must attend thesis seminars, for a total of six over the whole program. The seminars are wholly digital over two days each, and will include time to work on required submissions and student presentations of various aspects of thesis projects.

For all courses except MALK4000-401, MALK4000-402, MALKA211, MALKA213, MALKA215, MALKA220 and MALK5910, there is a final individual written home examination. Exams are tailored to the learning outcomes, course content and teaching and learning methods.

Portfolio examination is used in MALK4000-401 and MALKA220. The examination in MALKA213 is an empirical article based on experiments (project examination). MALK4000-402, MALKA211 and MALKA215 are school exams.

Exam questions are in English. Students may submit their exams in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English. All ordinary exams are held in the same term as the corresponding course.

All exams are evaluated and graded by two examiners, one from program faculty and one external to the program. The grading scale on all exams is: A (highest) to F (lowest) where A to E are the pass grades, and F is a fail grade.

All courses included in the specialisation are specified on the diploma, as is the title of the master’s thesis.

Assessments are carried out in accordance with the Act Relating to Universities and University Colleges, Regulations Relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet and Guidelines for Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet.

In accordance with Regulations Relating to Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet, external program supervisors are affiliated with this study program. The external program supervisors shall through feedback and advice contribute to ensuring that:

• the Master’s Degree program is a high-quality program judged by the standards for equivalent degrees at other national and international higher education institutions
• there is a coherence between the learning outcomes, teaching and forms of assessment
• there is a coherence between the different courses of the program
• the students’ knowledge and skills are tested and assessed in an impartial and satisfactory way.

The external program supervisors prepare a report that will be included in the department’s quality assurance work.

Exams in Master in Behavioral Science – specialisation in Concepts and Applications

• MALK4000-401 Complexity, Science and Society: Portfolio exam that includes 3 individual written assignments (Pass/Fail)
• MALK4000-402 Relational Skills: Individual written school examination, 5 hours (A-F)
• MALK4000-403 Behavior Analysis and Radical Behaviorism: Individual written home examination, 5 hours (A-F)
• MALKA211 Introduction to Behavior Analysis: Individual written school examination, 4 hours (A-F)
• MALKA212 Refinement of Behavior Analytic Terms: Individual written home examination (combination of essays and multiple choice/digital tests), 4 hours (A-F)
• MALKA213 Laboratory Exercises – Experimental Analysis of Behavior Analysis: Individual project examination (A-F)
• MALKA214 Experimental Design and Functional Analysis: Individual written home examination (multiple choice test), 3 hours (A-F)
• MALKA215 Complex Human Behavior: MALKA215 Complex Human Behavior: Individual written school examination, 5 hours (A-F)
• MALKA217 Early Intervention for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Individual written home examination, 5 hours (A-F)
• MALKA218 Ethical Considerations in Applied Behavior Analysis: Individual written home examination, 5 hours (A-F)
• MALKA219 Organizational Behavior Management (OBM): Individual written home examination, 5 hours (A-F)
• MALKA220 Behavioral Economics: Portfolio exam that includes 2 individual written assignments (A-F)
• MALKA222 Clinical Behavior Analysis: Individual written home examination, 3 hours (Pass/Fail)
• MALK5910/MALKD5910 Master’s Thesis: Master’s thesis, individual (A-F)

Approved by NOKUT on April 15th, 2004

Approved by the Board of Akershus University College on September 7th, 2004

Last amendments approved by Educational Board at the Faculty of Health Sciences on April 17 2024

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• 2 individual written assignments submitted digitally, each with a maximum length of 6000 characters, including spaces. References are to be included in the 6000 characters.

Individual school examination, 3 hours. Exam questions are in English. Students may submit their exams in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Authorized materials: Norwegian-English dictionary

Grade scale A-F

All answers are assessed by one examiner.

An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.