Prosthetics and Orthotics Programme Programme description

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Spesialpedagogikk i barnehagen

Special Needs Early Childhood Education

Videreutdanning for barnehagelærere

30 studiepoeng

Godkjent av utdanningsutvalget 17.12.2019.

Gjeldende fra høstsemesteret 2021.

Fakultet for lærerutdanning og internasjonale studier

Institutt for barnehagelærerutdanning

Emnekode: BSPE6000

Practical training ranges from single days of observation to six-week periods of supervised practical training. Observational practice can take place at orthopaedic technology enterprises, rehabilitation institutions, assistive technology centres and with orthopaedic appliance suppliers.

Supervised practical training in private prosthetic and orthotic companies make up the bulk of the practical training, corresponding to 18 weeks (30 credits). These training periods include supervision, assessment and the exchange of reflections between student and supervisor. Direct contact with users and other partners in real situations form the basis for the students¿ acquisition of knowledge, skills and general competence. The focus is on theoretical and clinical knowledge and skills, but students must develop their technical skills. Learning outcomes become more advanced from one period to the next, both in terms of knowledge and skills and when it comes to taking responsibility and being capable of working independently.

As the only educational institution in Norway with a prosthetics and orthotics programme, the programme at Oslo Metropolitan University has cooperation agreements with prosthetic and orthotic companies all over Norway. Students must therefore be prepared to take practical training periods outside the Oslo area.

Internationalisation contributes to raising the quality of education and strengthens the academic community on the programme, at the same time as it prepares the students to function in an increasingly international world. Healthcare professionals must be capable of practising their profession in a diverse society whether they work in Norway or abroad. Global and multicultural issues and perspectives are therefore a focus area throughout the programme. The labour market is becoming increasingly international, and this will make knowledge of language and culture more and more important.

International perspectives form part of the learning outcomes in all modules to which they are relevant. It is important for all students, whether they go on an exchange or not, to see the profession and function of prosthetist/orthotists in an international context.

Students on the Bachelor's Programme in Prosthetics and Orthotics are well trained in the English language and will be well equipped to understand and use English specialist terminology. ORTO3000 is taught in English in its entirety, while many other modules are taught partly in English because several of the permanent teaching staff on the programme have English as their first language and professional language (2017). Some of the module literature is in English to allow students to learn the terminology and gain insight into international research.

Oslo Metropolitan University has exchange agreements in place with universities and university colleges in Europe. Students on the programme can go abroad for three months during the sixth semester and write their bachelor's thesis (ORTO3900) abroad. The thesis and any other assignments must be written in English so that they can be read by the academic supervisor and others at the institution.

The exchange agreements provide corresponding opportunities for foreign students who wish to take part of their education at Oslo Metropolitan University.

Oslo Metropolitan University has a special scheme for students who wish to raise their competence in the field of internationalisation. Students can choose between different activities, for example giving or writing academic presentations in English, attending international conferences and organising events with an international content. Students who carry out a certain number of activities are awarded a Certificate of International Learning. Experience shows that students benefit from this competence both during and after their studies.

As the only Norwegian educational institution to train prosthetist/orthotists, it is particularly important for Oslo Metropolitan University that its staff engage in international cooperation in order to comply with the international standards for such education. The staff participate in networks, projects and research collaboration with colleagues in other countries, and foreign guest lecturers are used in teaching activities.

Required coursework is all types of work, tests and compulsory attendance that are requirements for a student to be assessed/permitted to take the exam. The primary purpose of coursework requirements is to contribute to the students' progress and academic development. Many coursework requirements are organised as modules, see the section `Skills training¿. The teaching plans provide more detailed information about which skills included in the requirements in the individual modules.

The lecturer assesses the required coursework as approved/not approved. Students are normally given two attempts at each coursework requirement before the ordinary exam. A third attempt is given before resit and rescheduled exams. If it is not possible for the second and, if relevant, the third, attempt to be carried out in the same way as the first, the student must complete an alternative assignment.

If the third attempt at a coursework requirement is not approved, the student must move down a year.

Compulsory attendance

A minimum attendance requirement of 80% applies to all parts of the programme where the students cannot achieve the learning outcomes on their own. This includes introductions to modules and topics, group work, modules, skills training, seminars and presentations of different types of work. Other activities may also be subject to compulsory attendance requirements, see the module descriptions.

The minimum attendance requirement for practical training modules is 90%. In the event of absence of between 10 and 20%, the practical training enterprise must consider, in consultation with the university college, whether it is possible to make up for the absence at the enterprise. The students cannot take it for granted that this will be possible. Students whose absence exceeds 20% must move down a year.

The assessment arrangements are intended to assess the students regularly throughout the programme in order to promote learning, while also providing information about study progress and the results achieved to the programme and the student.

Assessment of practical training

The programme lecturers assess whether students have met the coursework requirements for practical training modules, while the students' performance is assessed as pass/fail by their practical training supervisor. The criteria for having achieved the learning outcomes are stipulated in the teaching plans.

The assessment of practical training cannot be appealed, cf. the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges Section 5-3(5).

Exam

All modules conclude in an exam or, for the practical training modules, a final assessment, see the table below. Most modules have required coursework that must be approved before the student can take the exam/undergo final assessment. See the module descriptions for more detailed provisions. 

Resit and rescheduled exams are carried out in the same manner as the ordinary exam unless otherwise specified in the module description.

Detailed information will be provided in the guidelines for the individual exams well before the exam date.

For modules where a percentage of the exam papers are randomly selected for assessment by an external examiner, the external examiner's assessment shall benefit all the students. In such cases, one external and one internal examiner will first grade the selected papers. The internal examiner then continues grading the rest of the papers together with another internal examiner. The assessments from the first part are summarised to serve as guidelines for the internal examiners.

Grades awarded for written exams can be appealed, cf. the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges Section 5-3 and the Regulations Relating to Studies and Examinations at HiOA Section 7-3(2). Grades awarded on reassessment following an appeal are final and cannot be appealed.

Grades awarded for oral and practical exams cannot be appealed. In connection with a group exam, the result of an appeal will only have consequences for the candidate(s) who submitted the appeal. This means that all students in the group do not have to participate in the appeal.

All written exam papers, including multiple choice exams, are submitted digitally.

Examiners

One external and one internal examiner will assess at least 20% of the papers. The remaining papers will be assessed by two internal examiners. The external examiner's assessment shall serve as a guideline for the assessments carried out by the two internal examiners in order to benefit all the students.

External programme supervisor

The programme has an external programme supervisor who is to contribute to quality assurance and development of the programme. The external programme supervisor should preferably be employed by a Scandinavian educational institution, since Oslo Metropolitan University has the only programme of its kind in Norway. The person in question must understand Norwegian in order to be able to read all the relevant documents that form the basis for the work.

The external programme supervisor is charged with evaluating the programme's structure and coherence, including the relationship between the learning outcomes as described in the programme description, the work and teaching methods and assessment arrangements. The external programme supervisor should normally supervise all the modules in the programme over the course of a three-year period and provide feedback and advice that the academic environment can use in its further work on the quality of education.

Suitability

Diplomas for the completed programme will only be awarded to graduates who are suited to practise the profession. A student who represents a potential threat to the life, physical or mental health, rights and security of users is not suited for the profession.

Suitability assessments are made on a continuous basis throughout the study programme, and will be included in the overall assessment of the students' professional and personal suitability for work as health personnel. Students who demonstrate little ability to master the prosthetist/orthotist profession must be informed of this at the earliest possible stage of the programme. They will be given supervision and advice on how to improve, or be advised to leave the programme. Special suitability assessments are used in special cases, cf. the Regulations concerning Suitability Assessment in Higher Education.

Faculty of Health Sciences

Department of Occupational Therapy, Prosthetics and Orthotics

Approved by the Academic Affairs Committee at the Faculty of Health Sciences on 15 February 2017

Updated 20th March 2018