Bachelor's programs

Top-level bachelor's programs within an international environment prepare you for a responsible position in society.

Teaching Methods

In the IBA program you will encounter different forms of teaching, which may be different from what you are used to from highschool. Class sizes vary per teaching form and can range from 20 students up to 150 students. We will describe some of the most common teaching forms.

Working in teams
Teams are collaborative units of people joined together to accomplish a common goal. The output of the whole team should exceed that of the sum of the output of individual members.
As work processes and production systems have become more complex, teams -not individuals - have become the basic working unit in many modern international organizations. Because team environments foster interaction and open communication, and create a desirable setting for generating new ideas, the ability to function effectively as a member of an interdisciplinary team has become essential. In the IBA program team work will be used in many courses.

What makes team work essential for IBA students?

  • The business world requires graduates to have extensive competences in working and learning in teams.
  • Research shows that well-organized collaboration between students has positive effects on learning results, learning productivity, the relationships between the students, individual selfconfidence as well as well-being of students.
  • If a team performs well, individual team members can take advantage of several kinds of synergy effects. Synergy is best described as "1 + 1 = 3" rather than 2. For your learning process this means that you can learn much more in a course when you work in teams.

In effective team work, you are not only striving for the 'best' results yourself but also for the 'best' results of your fellow students and the other way around. In this way both you and your fellow students learn to create win-win rather than win-loose situations. It is important that you practice this principle because collaboration between people is such an essential element of contemporary business environments.

Lectures
Lectures usually take place once a week with all students from the program present in one big lecture hall. For some courses the group might be split in two parts, with students being assigned to one of the lectures. During the lecture the instructor will outline the theoretical concepts described in the literature to be studied for the course, usually making use of a PowerPoint presentation to help you understand and take notes. Real-life examples to further explain these theories are used, such as newspaper articles, videos and cases.

Instruction lectures
Instruction lectures take place for quantitative courses like Mathematics and Statistics and form the link between the theory and practical application in assignments. The instruction lectures will help you prepare yourself for the tutorials and explain how you should apply the theory.

Tutorials
Tutorials are usually offered once a week and the students are divided over several groups. The average class size for tutorials is 35-40 students per group. Tutorials offer you the opportunity to explore the course materials in more details, work on assignments and cases, ask questions, join in group discussions and share ideas with the instructor and your fellow students. Tutorials have an interactive format and students are required to come prepared. Some tutorials may have mandatory attendance.

Skills tutorials
The skills tutorials are a special type of tutorial explicitly designed to develop academic and business skills. The skills tutorials are linked to regular courses, as skills development is an integral part of the learning process in the IBA program. In the skills tutorials you will practice writing and presentation skills and apply the learned skills in assignments that are integrated in your regular courses. Preparation and active participation are mandatory. Group size varies between 20 - 40 students per group.

PC Lab sessions
For some courses in the IBA program more advanced computer skills are necessary. Therefore, PC Lab sessions are offered to teach students these skills and let them work on the application of theory on practical assignments.