HiL > About > Faculties and Departments at LUC > The Norwegian Film School (NFS) > Education Quality
Ever since the establishment of the Norwegian Film School in 1997, the educational quality has been an integrated part of the school's daily activities. With our small study environment we are very concerned about the individual student's professional and artistic development, and also have the opportunity to follow this up directly, both with the individual and in groups.
To ensure an education of high quality, there are continuous, extensive professional and pedagogical evaluations of the various disciplines, including the study programmes, individual workshops and classes, production exercises, as well as semester evaluations.
These evaluations are continuously discussed among the teaching staff, and to a considerable degree they have helped guide the adjustments made with the aim of concentrating the pedagogical focus and professional and artistic progression, both for the school as a whole as well as the discipline-specific education.
In the course of an average semester the individual students will write 8-12 evaluations of courses and workshops – both about the content of the course and their own benefit from it. In connection to semester evaluations the Head Tutors give each student individual feedback and evaluations.
The evaluation routines are different for the various departments, depending on their specific challenges, but the primary features are as follows:
A very important tool is the students' use of statements of intent. During the study all the disciplines are undertaking a number of production exercises – “penneprøver” or ”pen tests” – and during each pen test all the students writes a statement of intent where they describe what they want to achieve with this production exercise, and what learning benefits they hope to attain through their own work on the exercise. The statements of intent then form the basis for the evaluation of team pen tests, and through these, there is an emphasis on the students' awareness of their own development and learning goals. The statement of intent for each team member will be read aloud in a plenary session at the screening of the completed production exercise, and all comments and feedback use the statements of intent as a point of departure.
Additionally, all students deliver a confidential written evaluation at the end of each pen test, which is only read by the Dean and the Head of Studies. A summary of these evaluations are discussed among the teaching staff before the terms for the next pen test are decided.
As suggested above, there is a continuous evaluation/judgement of the education. The Dean and the Head of Studies, in co-operation with the teaching staff, use this to continuously evaluate and improve the education. Evaluations and feedback from students and employees are continuously discussed and may influence both the current class' future study, and provide guidelines for planning the education of future classes.
During all discussions there is a great emphasis on the students' artistic and professional development, and the main goal of the measures that are taken is to further this development. One element that is subject to recurring discussion is the needs of this specific group of students. In an arts education like this, the education must be flexible enough to give the collected student group challenges that are tailored to further their development in the best possible way. At the same time, education, like films, depends on careful planning. This will create a few challenges.
Generally, these challenges are solved by the teaching staff, as they discuss semester plans that have been drafted by the Head of Studies. By necessity, these semester plans are based on the description of the Bachelor's programme for the Film School and these are adjusted based on the experiences from the previous class of students who went through the corresponding semester, and, in the case of the second or third year, the progression that the current class have shown.
When the teaching staff have agreed upon a structure for the semester, as well as the placement of the general and discipline-specific education and the pen tests, the semester plan is laid and presented to the students. In semester 1 the students receive the plan on their first school day. In the next semesters they get the plan for the next semester on the last school day of the current semester.
During a film shoot the shooting plan is a dynamic, never a static document. This is the case at the Norwegian Film School too. The plan is continuously adjusted, often in response to feedback from students, and when such adjustments are made the very greatest consideration is to chart the students' progression through evaluations, assessments and recurring discussions within the teaching staff. All adjustments are made within the logistical framework decided by the semester plan.
In addition to the influence the students exert on the education through their evaluation, there are the following forums for participation in the education at the Film School:
In addition to these formal forums the Dean, the Head of Studies and the Department Co-Ordinator are practising a confirmed “open door policy” where students are encouraged to come to discuss anything concerning the progress of their education. This is an often-used opportunity.