Teaching methods
Master in Cyber Security is designed so that the sum of the topics and study work with these will lead the students towards the intended learning outcomes described in chapter 2 in the programme description. The pedagogical platform’s goal is to facilitate and encourage learning.

The individual courses are put together to show a breadth of knowledge, skills and general competence that reflects the field of practice. Some courses are more oriented towards knowledge exchange, others more oriented towards building specific skills, while others include more skills in links between theory and practice. The master's programme in cyber security is created as a continuation of the bachelor's in cyber security at Kristiania University College, and the comprehensive education can be later continued as a PhD in applied information technology.

Cyber Security is a rapidly developing area that requires considerable practice and exercises to align with the theoretical foundations. Therefore, forms of work, teaching and assessment in the individual courses have been chosen to provide a good and meaningful correspondence between the learning outcome that is desired to be achieved, the teaching methods used, and the exam that concludes the course.

The methodological choices also reflect the course's contribution to the study program. The students, therefore, encounter a varied set of learning activities throughout the study period, a variation that, in total, should reflect the field of practice the student is studying for. Moreover, students will enhance their learning through a combination of both individual and group assignments to highlight the importance of teamwork in the cyber security domain.

The Master in Cyber Security emphasizes that students learn to use relevant methods from research and professional development work / artistic development work. This will contribute to the students, through their master's studies being able to complete an independent, limited research or development project or artistic work under supervision and in line with current academic and ethical norms. To take care of this, the teaching will include emphasis commenting on, illustrating, and elaborating material from teaching materials, as well as providing guidance and additional material that is not available in printed form. Finally, the students will apply learnt material on a variety of problems and tasks in cyber security.

As with all higher education, Kristiania University College also sets requirements for students' independent learning work. Kristiania University sees it as a task to facilitate the students' work through good learning designs. At the same time, we emphasize that a teacher can only communicate and facilitate. The actual learning takes place with the individual student because of the student's work. In connection with the teaching, the student must therefore expect a significant personal effort both in acquiring theoretical knowledge as well as practising and exercising cyber security tools and technologies.

While attending the master programme in cyber security, the educational model might include the following components to facilitate learning and skills enhancement:

Lectures to introduce the theoretical concepts and frameworks.
Seminars, oral presentations, and group works give students an opportunity to present, discuss and argue upon topics and achieve results.
Supervision and assessment to guide the learning process.
Digital follow-up through acceptable platforms
Use cases work and project execution.
Attendance of the specialized workshop offered by the research environment.
Independent practice, lab work and exercises
Participation in the collaboration projects through the cyber security lab – both internally and externally
Industry consultations and coordination for better alignment with industry needs.

For students who need tutoring beyond scheduled teaching, Kristiania University of Applied Sciences has available subject resources, including administrative staff, librarians, digital learning resources (e.g., online movies) and student tutors. These can be contacted by the individual student if needed. In addition to literature and help with literature searches, the library also offers varied training in academic writing.

During the study process, there will be organized course-specific academic and industry events will be held, where guest lecturers, external organizations and business actors can participate. The corresponding cooperation projects can be managed by the course coordinator and/or students and supported by administrative resources. For a master's in cyber security, this is relevant for all the mandatory courses in the courses list. See the course description for more information. Moreover, the students will be encouraged to attend cyber security-related events whenever possible through special arrangements and agreements to broaden their understanding of the field and job opportunities.

Forms of assessment
Assessment is a situation where a submitted or presented work is assessed against a set of criteria. Criteria are given by the learning outcome that are defined for the individual subject. The assessment can be made by fellow students, teachers, or examiners. These will also be happy to give feedback, either as guiding feedback or as a grade (exam) with a thorough explanation.

At Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, we distinguish between assessment as learning, assessment for learning and assessment of learning. The form of the work being assessed (the assessment form) can be the same in all three of these assessment situations, while the purpose varies.

In assessment as learning (fellow student assessment) and for learning (feedback from the teacher), the purpose is to shape a learning process to help the student to achieve the best possible learning outcome. We perceive this assessment as part of the teaching methods, which can be found in Chapter 4.1 above.

Learning assessment is a final assessment where the achieved learning results are assessed - in other words, the exam. The exam at Kristiania University College is defined as "An exam is a final assignment within a course or a limited sub-course". The submitted or presented work is assessed through an examination, and the result of the assessment must appear on the diploma.

Master in cyber security is a study programme with extensive range of topics and involved technologies. Therefore, students will be exposed to either of the following exam formats, which offer the best way of assessment and evaluating of the student's performance:

Supervised examination
Multiple choice questions
Home exam
Oral presentation
Portfolio assessment
Assignments through semester
Master thesis project
Project-based practical exams

Some of the courses might include compulsory assignments (one or more). A compulsory activity, if included in the course, is a requirement that must be approved to be eligible for the exam. The activity can either be a requirement that one or more reports or practical works must be submitted (work requirements) and/or a requirement for participation in defined activities and/or lectures and/or compulsory practice.

A compulsory activity is assessed as Approved / Not Approved and gives the right to sit for an examination in a course with compulsory activity requirement when such an activity is assessed as Passed. Furthermore, students will be eligible for feedback on the performance in the compulsory assignment. Otherwise, the student loses the right to an examination in the course until the activity (ies) has been assessed as Approved.

The assessment of the various exam forms will follow the Norwegian grading system with the scale A - F, where A is the best grade, E is the lowest pass grade and F is fail. Or the exam also may use a Pass / Fail evaluation, which will be decided for each course.

For additional information about the exam and compulsory activity, see Kristiania University of Applied Sciences' website.

Study program MCS

Master in Cyber Security