Teaching methods

The course is organized into 6 semesters of 15 weeks each and includes lectures, laboratories, practicals, and final year project and placements. The study programme is generally divided into modules of 25 or 50 hours.

Lectures

Lectures are given by lecturers, researchers or professionals and are updated to keep up with advances in industry, technology and research. They provide the basic components of the subject, which will be applied and pursued in depth in seminars and practical work, as well as in the student's own personal work.

Course materials (lecture handouts) are usually supplied to students or are available on-line.

Tutorials (TD)

Practicals are exercises done to apply the work completed in class. They are done by the students, assisted by their tutors. TD sessions take place in groups of 24 students, which allows for interaction with the tutor (comprehension questions and in-depth treatment of class-work).

Practical works (TP)

This involves the technical skills of designing, experimenting or simulating on computer equipment. TP sessions take place in groups of 12 to 16 in the laboratory, computer room or in the field. They use sophisticated equipment adapted to the disciplines. Students have access to industrial and research laboratory equipment. They are generally asked to work in pairs, supervised by a tutor.

Mentoring

This is work that is done alone or in a group and involves document summaries, technical or bibliographical studies, which are individually monitored by a mentor. The aim of mentoring is to learn independence and develop personal initiative (planning and organizing tasks). It involves reporting on what you are doing, explaining your decisions to tutors at meetings or in reports. The mentor's role is to direct the student, help him target the requirements and guide his approach.

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