This course gives you 7.5 study credits (ECTS). This means that you have to dedicate a total of about 200 hours to this course.

I am aware that students are different and have many different ways of following courses. However, when I calculated the number of study credits, I used the following estimates (for a total of 200 hours):

• 6 lectures, 6*(0.5 + 2 + 2.5) = 30 hours
• 6 exercises, 6*(0 + 2 + 0.5) = 15 hours
• 7 seminars, 7*((0.5 video + 5.0 paper) + 2 + 0.5) = 56 hours
• 3 labs, 3*(1 + 6 + 3) = 30 hours
• peer reviews (0.75 Perforce + 0.25 paper) = 1 hour
• 1 individual paper review, 8 hours
• 1 group project, 15+35 hours
• 1 preparation for exam, 8 hours
• 1 exam, 2 hours

The way to interpret the number of hours in parenthesis (a + b + c) is that:

• a are the hours you spend on preparation before the activity
• b are the hours you spend on the activity itself
• c are the hours you spend on "debriefing" after the activity

"lectures" are traditional lectures on introductory topics and are usually given by me on Mondays. I expect you to acquaint yourself with the literature before the lecture and to actually read/study (parts of) the literature more in detail after the lecture in preparation for the exercises.

"seminars" are flipped classrooms going in-depth with a particular topic and are given as a video lecture followed by a seminar with group and plenary discussions, usually on Thursdays. I expect three groups to prepare some discussion questions for the presented papers before the lecture. After the lecture I expect you to spend some time organising and reflecting on your notes from the lecture.

The preparation before the exercises is reading/studying the papers from the preceeding a-lecture (and counted as that). After I expect you to spend some time organising and reflecting on your notes from the exercises.

Before each lab I expect you to read the lab instruction as preparation. I do not expect you to spend much time after the lab, but you should organise and reflect on the notes you took during the lab and after the final lab for each tool, you should write a lab report.

Each group will have to make a project. Most of the work on this project will take place during the final weeks of the course and after the exam but before the next reading period starts (mid-January). However, some of the (preparation) work should be done as extensions to the exercise sessions. You should spend a total of 15 hours of work on the initial part of the project (leading to the synopsis) - and a total of 40 hours (one full week of work) on finishing the work and writing the final report.

As preparation for the exam you should (at least) look through the course literature, your notes and the results from the exercises to get an overview of the most important concepts in this course. You should also read carefully your group's extended abstract, as part of the examination will be based on discussing that. If you have spent the hours indicated for the activities above, 8 hours (one whole day) should be more than sufficient - and if not, then remember to start preparing 200 hours (8.33 full days or 25 working days) before the exam date ;-)

The exam itself is an oral exam and is done in the same groups that are used for the exercises, labs and mini project. The examination will last about 60-80 minutes - and after a couple of minutes we will give you an evaluation of your performance - and your grades.

As always your milage will vary and the above numbers are only indicative. Of course you are free to follow the course any way you think is best for you - as long as you attend all labs and get along with the rest of the people in your group.