No abstract

March 12 th , 2020 was the day that the Norwegian Government put Norway in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The implication of this was that all kindergartens, pre-schools, elementary schools, high-schools, colleges, and universities were closed from Friday the 13 th March. The universities, and all the other teaching institutions, were instructed by the government that teaching was to go on as normal as possible, only digitally. In other words, students were not to miss any teaching and there was no adjusting of curriculum. By the following Wednesday, all our teaching was digital; lectures, rehearsals in regular bachelor and master courses, and mentoring of bachelor, master, and PhDprojects. This was done regardless of what pedagogic and didactic background the teachers have. This was also to be done from home, where most of the teachers did not have an office or teaching aids other than their computer. This paper looks at the didactic methods for digital teaching and mentoring and compare them to how this was done in a crisis, where we had to make it work. The paper also looks at the recommended ways of conducting digital home exams in regards of testing the curriculum and not having the opportunity to control the environment in which the students are taking the exam. And last, it also investigates if the teaching and examination process impacted the students' grades and satisfaction.

This paper investigates how students perceive their preparedness when they start writing their bachelor thesis. Students at the University of Agder (UiA) will, in their first semester, receive lectures in ethics, academic writing and referencing to equip them for future writing, mostly academic reports. In the Civil Engineering Department, an IMRAD report template is used during their bachelor thesis. The Civil Engineering Department also requires lecturers to use variations of the same template for every report to prepare the students for their bachelor thesis. This paper will use this year's bachelor students as a case study. In January and February, the students attended a workshop and followed a course titled "TFL200system course for engineers". The workshop gave the students a recapitulation in academic writing, referencing, the writing process, project management, and how the template is structured, explaining the template's different parts. TFL200 covered ethics, systems theory, innovation and LCA, sustainability, and academic writing. In the spring semester, two surveys were sent out to third-year bachelor students in Civil Engineering writing their bachelor thesis. The first survey was sent out at the beginning of January, before the students started their course and workshop. This survey investigated to which degree the students feel prepared, motivated, and ready to write their bachelor thesis. The second survey was conducted in late February to evaluate the effects of TFL200 regarding the bachelor project and the workshop, measuring the student's current preparedness, motivation, and to which degree the students feel competent.

No abstract

This paper investigates how the involvement of university and students into industrial networks might gain both continuous development of education programmes, and the learning outcomes of students within engineering education. Involvement of the civil and structural engineering education in the creation and early operation of an industrial networkthe local division of "Young Professionals' Concrete Network"is used as a case. "Young Professionals' Concrete Network" are regional networks related to the Norwegian Concrete Association. The intention is to create networks for young professionals and students, focusing on all aspects of the use of concrete materials within engineering and construction. This paper is based on a survey executed amongst civil engineering students that have participated in the local division of the network. The scope of the survey was to identify dividends generated from engaging in the network. The participants were asked to answer questions regarding outcomes from participation in different types of activities.The results from the survey identified learning outcomes and other dividends from participation in a network that includes students, university employees, and young professionals from the industry. These findings are discussed to gain knowledge on how network engagement can be utilised to continuously improve the civil and structural engineering education and to strengthen the competence of participating students and young professionals. As the network is originating and run by stakeholders within the university, the generated knowledge is also used in a feedback loop for improvement of the activities offered by the network.