PROGRAMME HANDBOOK MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION SECURITY Information Systems Science
Table of contents INTRODUCTION... 1 GENERAL INFORMATION... 2 SERVICES... 2 The Student Portal... 2 Application and Registration... 2 Learning Management System Fronter... 2 Video Conference Programs... 3 Library Resources - Electronic books... 3 Examination and Examination Results... 3 Examination grades... 4 THE PROGRAMME... 4 Courses for students admitted 2011 or later:... 4 Courses for students admitted 2010 or earlier:... 5 Change of courses... 5 Technical Requirements... 5 Other requirements... 5 TEACHING... 6 PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH - FROM TEACHING TO LEARNING... 6 Student commitments... 7 Student influence... 8 Teacher commitments... 9 ETHICS AND DISCIPLINE... 10 CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM... 10 COLLABORATION... 11 COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE RESOURCES... 11 DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES... 11 FINAL REMARKS... 12 LINKS... 12 CONTACT INFORMATION... 12 Information Systems Science
Introduction The purpose of this document is to inform the students of the Masters programme in Information Security about the education, teaching methods and ethical issues. We consider that every student must be aware of what is written in this document. Since students come from universities from different parts of the world and the way education is carried through differs in every country we have found that it often takes a long time for a student from another country to understand what it is like to study in Sweden and at Luleå University of Technology. The fact that a lot of the students study this education by distance brings forward not only opportunities but also problems. Lessons are often not scheduled so that the student must attend them at a specific time. The tasks and the assignments can be solved whenever it suits the student (however before deadlines). The student can choose when to study which gives freedom but also means that he/she must take more responsibility for his/her own studies and plan the work by himself/herself. We are sure that you will find it much easier to be a successful Master s student at our university if you read this document and try to follow the advices, guidelines and rules. Contacts: Harriet Nilsson, e-mail: harriet.nilsson@ltu.se, Phone: +46 920 49 16 86 Information Systems Science -1-
General Information We will start with some general information about web services and other services, the programme, the courses, credits and examination grades. Services All students have access to e-mail and the computer resources of Luleå University of Technology which are required to be able to study. To enable you to use the resources, you receive a unique user identity (IDEAL user) and an e-mail address. The identity and e-mail address are valid for your entire time at the University. Using the IDEAL user you can access the Student Portal, the learning management system Fronter and your student e-mail. The IDEAL user and information about it is distributed by post to all new students in the middle or in the end of August. (Or later if you are admitted late.) If you have any problems with your IDEAL user contact the university s Service Desk https://servicedesk.ltu.se/. Phone: +46 920 49 16 64. The Student Portal The Student Portal https://portal.student.ltu.se is one of the most important tools during your studies. This is where you register for your courses and for traditional examinations. You also handle your e-mail at the Student Portal. You can also obtain a study résumé yourself from the Student Portal. To access the Student Portal you need your IDEAL user. Application and Registration As soon as you are admitted to the programme you are also admitted to all of the courses of the programme except for the two optional courses during the second year. You don t have to apply for the mandatory courses unless you replace a course that you already have got credits for with another course. Each semester you have to register yourself as a student of the programme. After programme registration you also have to register for each course normally during the first week of the course. You register in the Student Portal. Use your IDEAL user to log in. The programme and the courses you are admitted to will be visible for registration. Contact the Education Administration at studenttorget@ltu.se if you have any problems regarding the registration. Learning Management System Fronter We use Fronter, a web-based group-software product, in order to provide information and course material. The Internet address to log in is https://fronter.com/ltu. Use your IDEAL user to log in. If you log in at the Student portal you can access Fronter directly. Every course has its own course-room in Fronter. Fronter is very easy to use. As soon as you have got your IDEAL user you can take a Guided Tour to find out what this program is about. Selecting Help will display a lot of help and printable documentation for most of questions that can arise. A couple of days before each course starts you will get access to the course room of that course. If you do not register for the course during the first week you will lose access to the course room in Fronter (in case you are studying the courses as a free mover). -2-
Video Conference Programs MSc in Information Security Lectures and meetings for distance students will take place by the aid of a computerbased videoconferencing tool called Adobe Connect Pro. Information about how to use Adobe you can find on: http://www.ltu.se/edu/nystudent/stud/d24782/1.54242?l=en. In the course rooms in Fronter you will find a Student Manual for Adobe. Library Resources - Electronic books Some parts of the course literature will be available as electronic books. The University Library offers a lot of books online. You can access these books from the library s web site using your IDEAL user. The books can be printed or read online. To access e-brary: 1. Access the website www.ltu.se - In English University Library E-books ebrary. 2. If you are not using a computer at the University, log in using your IDEAL user. 3. Search for book titles, authors, words in the text. 4. A list of books will be visible in the reading window. Select the book you want to access. If you want to read the book in a larger window, select pages and chapters in a simpler way or print pages you must install the ebrary Reader. A button to do this can be found beside the book title. 5. Then select the book you want to read/print. 6. You can print 5 pages at the same time, 40 pages during one session. If you want to print more pages, log out and log in once more. If there are problems with the access to e-brary, contact Service Desk. There are also other services to use on the library s site, accessing databases, journals and different publisher s books. Examination and Examination Results In all of the courses you will have assignments to write and submit. The examination of the assignments is made online. The result of these and comments will be found in the course room in Fronter. There are also written examinations in most of the courses. These examinations you can write on campus or on-line. If you want to write these examinations on campus, you must register for the examination in the Student Portal 2-3 weeks before the examination date. If you write the examination on-line you should not register. More information about examination will be found in the course room of each course. If you fail or if you haven t been able to write the examination the first scheduled date there will be re-exams scheduled. The result of the examination can be found in the Student Portal as soon as the examination has been marked and registered. If you want the marked examination papers to be sent to you, contact studenttorget@ltu.se. In your request you must write your personal code (a number that you will receive together with the information about IDEAL user), name, postal address and course code. You must also state that you are aware of that by receiving the examination papers you cannot appeal against the marks on the examination. -3-
If you want to appeal against the marks on the examination, you can ask for a copy of the examination paper. Contact studenttorget@ltu.se. In the Student Portal you will be able to find the final grade for the courses/parts of course as soon as the grade is registered. Usually, the grade is visible a couple of weeks after the course is finished. Examination grades For each course you can get three grades: U = Fail, G = Pass, VG = Pass with distinction. You will also be graded according to the ECTS-scale, A-F. When you have finished all the required courses of the programme you can apply for a degree certificate. The form for applying can be downloaded from the University s website. If there are questions, contact: examen@ltu.se The Programme The duration of the programme is two years or four semesters. The total credits to study are 120 hp (högskolepoäng). Hp is the credit system for Swedish universities and the value for one hp is the same as for the European ECTS credit. Most of the courses encompasses, however, there is a case study that gives 15 hp and the Master thesis encompasses 30 hp. Except for when you work with the case study or your Thesis you study two courses at the same time. The courses of the programmes will be changed for students admitted autumn 2011. For you who were admitted 2010 or earlier there are no changes. Courses for students admitted 2011 or later: Year 1 Aug-Oct Nov-Jan Jan-March March-June Systems Thinking Information Security Knowledge Management Information Security Safety I Internet Security Scientific Methods Case study 15 hp Year 2 Aug-Oct Nov-Jan Jan-March March-June Strategic Security and IT-Management Optional Course Information Security Research Optional Course Master Thesis 30 hp -4-
Courses for students admitted 2010 or earlier: Year 1 Aug-Oct Nov-Jan Jan-March March-June Data Communication Information Security Knowledge Management Information Security Safety I Safe e-services I Scientific Methods Case study 15 hp Year 2 Aug-Oct Nov-Jan Jan-March March-June Internet Security Strategic Security and IT-Management Thesis 30 hp Safety II Safe e-services II Change of courses If you find that a course of the programme is similar to a course you have already studied you can be credited for that course. If that is the case, contact the programme coordinator. A form for transfer of credits will be sent to you and must be returned with a syllabus detailing the course taken at another university attached. Technical Requirements If you study the programme by distance you must have access to a computer in a location where you are authorized to install software, as well as an Internet connection with capacity for at least 64 Kbps. In addition, you will require a headset, microphone and web camera. Other requirements The examination of the courses can be compulsory assignments, individual or in group, on-line examination and traditional written examinations (campus students). For on-line examination, the web-camera and a passport are used for authentication. In most of the courses there are tasks and projects where you are supposed to examine a real-life problem or case. Therefore, it is an advantage if you can find a local company or organisation to cooperate with. There will be cases handed out by the University; however, to be able to visit the company you examine is preferable. You can speak to real persons and ask questions when you need further information. -5-
Teaching If you are a distance student your studies will include communication with teachers and other students via e-mail, Internet conferencing, telephone, chatting and other appropriate means. An important medium for both campus students and distance students will be the course room provided by Fronter, the joint web-based teaching platform at Luleå University of Technology. Here, information including course information, study guides, links and class lists will be provided. Via Fronter, you will submit your assignments. The assignments will be commented on and assessed and you will be able to read the comments in Fronter. Some teaching and certain meetings will take place with the aid of a video conference system. Lectures will be recorded. This means that you will be able to view lectures, even if you were not present when they were given. For e.g., project meetings and examinations, attendance/active participation is compulsory. Each course consists of several sections, blocks or themes. Sections usually begin with a lecture that will be recorded. For most of the course sections, there is a study guide or a study adviser with a description of course objectives, suggested activities, literature and study guidance. You work through each course section with the aid of the study guide. You will have considerable freedom of choice with respect to study methods and the time and location of your studies. Some of the sections will be concluded with an examination, although in some cases, the section s exam may be part of the final examination of the course. Some sections exams primarily involve individual assignments for which there can be opportunity for discussion with classmates (more about what is allowed or not can be found in the chapter Ethics and Dicipline), while other sections will include project work or smaller group assignments. If you are a student on campus the education is the same. The only difference is that you will have lectures and other meetings with the teacher and other students on campus. The course room in Fronter is important to use also by campus students. The information below about aour pedagogical approach and student commitments is important for all students. Pedagogical Approach - From Teaching to Learning In s overall strategies one of the cornerstones is a concept called Knowledge Building. This means a shift from the Instruction Paradigm to the Learning Paradigm. The Instruction Paradigm covers the traditional teaching methods at universities where the teacher creates the structure of the activities of teaching, mostly as delivering lectures, perhaps some laboratory work and examinations. The student is passive most of the time, or listens, makes notes, and read the course literature before the examination. The focus is on what the teacher does not on the student s activity. In the Learning Paradigm the most important is the student s activities, and how well the student will achieve the course aims. The learning outcome i.e., the knowledge that the student can show after the course, is in focus. The student must take responsibility for his/her own learning. A teacher cannot teach the student, the student learns by herself/himself. The teacher s role is the one of a mentor, or a supervisor, who offers means for the student s learning. -6-
Student commitments MSc in Information Security As mentioned above, you will have considerable freedom of choice with respect to study methods and the time and location of your studies. There will be few scheduled activities compared to the educational methods most of you are used to. Since the students come from different countries in different time zones, the lectures will be recorded. However, the examination of a course sometimes requires real-time participation, which means that some students have to be on-line during evenings, nights and early mornings. The submissions of assignments are also scheduled; the folders for handing in the assignments always will close when the time has expired. You will find that this freedom of choice also means that you have to take responsibility for your own learning. The learning paradigm says that except for checking your assignments, examinations, and participation in compulsory meetings, the teacher s role is to supervise, not to control the activities of the students. Our advice is that you carefully plan your study activities to make sure that your work is within schedule. If you have a fulltime job beside your studies we find that it will be very difficult to be able to be a successful student. In Fronter you will be notified about changes of scheduled activities and other important matters. You will also be reminded of dates for handing in assignments. You are supposed to visit Fronter regularly, preferably every day, to make sure that you haven t missed important information. Information to specific students is sent by mail, therefore you must check your student e-mail frequently too, preferably every day. If a course requires project work or other group activities, the students are, as far as possible, supposed to create groups by themselves. There is a discussion forum in Fronter to use, and students have access to the e-mail addresses of all other students of the course. Based one experience from previous courses we know that this is not an easy task. Therefore, it is possible to get some help from the teachers to form groups. When a group is formed, the teacher must be notified about the members of the group. No member can be added to the group later on without counsulting the teacher. The groupmembers must find their own ways of communicating and sharing documents and experiences. Each group decides how to work and how to make sure that every member of the group participate in the activities and contributes to the work. When the project will be presented and assessed, every group-member must participate. -7-
Summary of the student s commitments Plan the studies and carry through the plan. Participate in compulsary, scheduled meetings. Contribute to the work of the project group. Submit assingments before the due date has expired. Visit the course room in Fronter regularly (every day). Read the student e-mail regurlaly (every day). Answer mails from the teachers (and other students) as soon as possible. Apply the polices and rules in the chapter Ethics and Discipline. Student influence The University s Policy for Increased Student Influence at (2001) states that students influence in issues concerning education and the students situation in general shall be increased. Students are participatory in the creation of knowledge. Formal means to accomplish student influence during this education are: Programme council All programmes at create a programme council where student representatives, the programme coordinator, other staff members and representatives from companies or organizations who are stakeholders in the education meet and discuss issues concerning the programme. The programme council should meet at least once each semester. Course evaluation The University ensures that the views of students regarding completed courses are collated and taken into account, as part of the University s improvement work at course level. A course evaluation for a course will be available online by the end of each course. The student s name will not be visible when the teacher assembles the evaluation. The results and any action decisions stemming from the course evaluation will be available for the students. Student unions The student union and The Student Association of Engineering at Luleå University of Technology are gatherings of students at. They work with educational development in one of each of the two faculties at the university, the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the faculty of Science and Technology. Alongside educational development, the unions also work with social issues, such as student housing, equality and the graduation ceremony. The unions are politically and religiously independent. The membership is optional. You can read more on: www.ltu.se Student web. -8-
Teacher commitments MSc in Information Security Apart from checking tasks, assignments and exams, we will have no means to control the student s work. The teacher s role will be to provide lectures and study material, and to guide and supervise the students. This involves: To create study guides for each course. To list course literature and articles. To assist students in creating project groups. To communicate with the students in the most suitable way. To give some kind of answer to a question (perhaps not the full solution to a problem) as soon as possible, (at least within 48 h). Weekends and vacations excluded. Note that you can always ask the teacher if there are issues that need further explanation or other matters that you find unclear. -9-
Ethics and Discipline The MSc in Information security is a professional programme designed to prepare students for responsible positions requiring the trust and confidence of public. Therefore, the programme must demand the highest ethical standards of its students. The programme will not tolerate plagiarism, false presentations of individual contributions to joint efforts, cheating, or falsification of records. It will also not tolerate disruptive behaviour, ethnic intimidation, sexual harassment, or illegal activities. Cheating and Plagiarism Plagiarism and other forms of academic misrepresentation are taken extremely serious. In most of the courses there will be written examination as well as required papers or assignments. Whether the examination is a paper, an assignment, or a traditional written examination we will not tolerate any kind of cheating or plagiarism. Cheating includes: Plagiarism (explained below). Submission of work that is not the students own. Submission or use of falsified data. Use of another person as stand-in for an examination. Use of unauthorized material in the preparation of an assignment or during an examination. Supplying or communication unauthorized information to another student for use in an assignment or examination. Collaboration on an assignment that has not been explicitly permitted by an instructor. Submission of the same work for credit in more than one course without advance permission from both instructors. Plagiarism is defined as the failure to indicate the source of work either with quotation marks or references. Even if the source is indicated you are not allowed to use large part of another authors writing without re-writing it using your own words. The source can be: Text from a paper or a book A graphic element A proof Program code Note that the same rules will be applied to material on the web as to material in a book. Program codes, spreadsheets and graphics are also considered as unique work belonging to their creator. A software called Ephorus will be used to detect plagiarism. In each course room in Fronter you will find documents with instructions about how to write the examination tasks, make references and quote correctly. -10-
Collaboration MSc in Information Security Most of the courses involve individual tasks, group tasks and project work. Collaboration is mostly encouraged as contributing to the learning experience. Since project work is common when you work within this field we find it important for the student to practise project work. However, if an assignment is individual, collaboration is limited to discussion on the issue of the assignment, followed by submission of independent work. Whether the tasks require cooperation or individual work will be clearly stated in the study guide or the description of the task for each course or course section. Computer and Software Resources During the education the student is supposed to use his/her own computer and Internet connection or resources at. If the student hasn t got the necessary technical equipment he/she must find a local university to cooperate with. The software used is mostly standard Windows application or freeware. If the software is distributed by the student is bound by the same licensing agreement as the university. You are not allowed to make copies of any software or documentation, or allow anyone to borrow these items without permission from the university. You must not misuse the university s network in any other way. This involves using the identity of another, and sending obscene, harassing or intimidating messages under your own or another s name. Disciplinary Procedures All sorts of plagiarism can be detected by software used by the university. The first time we find plagiarism the student will be notified about the plagiarism and get a chance to correct the mistake. The next time plagiarism is detected the student will be reported to Disciplinnämnden, The Disciplinary Committee. Other kinds of cheating, misuse of the university s network, disruptive behaviour, ethnic intimidation, and sexual harassment will also be reported. The Disciplinary Committee handles matters about cheating, examination, disturbing behaviour and infringement of human rights. The disciplinary committee can issue a warning but can also decide to suspend the wrongdoer for a period up to six months with no right to education, examination or tutoring. The student will lose access to the university s network, computers and software. A suspension may be appealed to the County Administrative Court. Appeals are submitted to the University, and are subsequently heard by the court. Contact: University legal adviser Alf Grafström, e-mail: alf.grafstrom@ltu.se -11-
Final remarks We hope that this handbook will give you a useful guidance towards being a successful master s student. Below is a summary of useful links with information and contact information: Links Programme and Course Registration www.ltu.se Student web My pages-login Examination Registration www.ltu.se Student web My pages-login Study Resumé www.ltu.se Student web My pages-login Student e-mail https://mail.ltu.se/ Learning Management System Fronter https://fronter.com/ltu Video Conference System Adobe Connect Pro http://www.ltu.se/edu/nystudent/stud/d24782/1.54242?l=en A Student Manual can be found in each course room in Fronter Other useful information for students www.ltu.se Student web www.ltu.se/systemvetenskap Contact information Problems with registration and other administrative matters studenttorget@ltu.se Problems with user account and log in https://servicedesk.ltu.se/ Questions about the programme Harriet Nilsson, e-mail: harriet.nilsson@ltu.se. Phone: +46 920 49 16 86 Programme Coordinator Sören Samuelsson, e-mail: soren.samuelsson@ltu.se. Phone: +46 920 49 18 22 Questions about single courses The teacher of the course -12-