I'm in the process of finishing my 4th year as a student at NTNU. Most of the master students have by their forth year finished all the courses they are ever going to take (unless they proceed to a phd) and now focus all their energy on their thesis. Because of the nature of my project, I decided to also do experiments in my forth year, and therefore I still have 3 more courses to go.
By now I'm terribly tired and sick of the part of student life that consists of lectures, reading and memorizing facts. Most courses at NTNU consists of two lectures a week, a lab or theoretical exercise a week and/or a major paper during the semester. The curriculum usually consists of a big, heavy book that is carefully memorized for the exam - and often forgot quickly afterwards.
The bachelor program in cell- and molecular biology that I followed have a selection of increasingly detailed cell biology courses. Each year you memorize a little bit more of good, old Fat Alberts (I love that book!) and additionally some microbiology, biochemistry or other subjects you prefer (good thing with this program is they let you choose a lot).
Unfortunately, hardly any course is centered around exploring the field it belongs to. Articles are rarely included in the curriculum and during the bachelor degree the students are not commonly engaging in discussions with their professor. This of course only account for the cell- and molecular program and a few exceptions exists. The plant biology courses make great use of articles and invite the students to interesting discussions - but that is all thanks to the prof that teaches them (check out his webpage here).
During my bachelor degree I had 3 courses that thought me how to make use of scientific articles (yes, that actually needs to be thought and practiced!) and showed me that even students are allowed to criticize research presented in peer-reviewed journals. All of these courses took place in Copenhagen during my stay at Copenhagen University. I thought it was great fun to ditch the books and bury myself in a pile of articles. But I was utterly shocked to hear the Danish students attack the articles, pick them apart and have no respect whatsoever (not even for Nature or Science, oh the horror!) During my stay in Copenhagen I learned what to look for in an article. What questions to ask. What was new and exciting in the specific field and what are the major obstacles lying ahead.
I was so excited to get back to Norway and start my thesis. Two of my Copenhagen courses were at masters degree level and I imagined I'd go home to the same kind of funny and eye-opening stuff.
Oh no! Except for a bachelor level plant biology course, that never happened.
Even at master degree level, the cell biologist at NTNU is expected to attend lectures and memorize Fat Alberts. Yet again!
And at the same time, those lucky ecologists attend scientific seminars once a week, have articles and discussions as curriculum and then sit down to lunch and tell me how amazing and FUN sexual selection is. Yes. I'm very, very, veryveryveryveryvery jealous.
During a bachelor degree a certain amount of basic knowledge should be acquired by the student. I however also feel that a bachelor student should learn to read and evaluate articles - Danish style!
Upon entering a masters degree program one should be finished with memorizing facts. It is time to get to know your field, read about it (in articles, sorry Fat Alberts), talk about it and getting a feeling of what it's like to be a scientist - what lies behind all those curves and gel pictures?
At this point, I don't think I can recommend the cell- and molecular studies at NTNU to anyone. I'm very sorry to say so, as the people working here are great. They are accomplished, skilled and always helpful and cheerful. The professors, phds and other staff are just awesome - anyone that can write a thesis here should do so. They should just...not follow the courses here!
