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Courses
During the 1st and of 2nd cycle years at the university, the student
follows two types of classes. They are complementary and you should
not choose to neglect one of them ; that could lead you to failure.
The lectures : The lectures
take place in lecture halls from 100 to 1 000 places, where the
teacher states his course before the audience and where the students
listen and take notes. If it is not generally possible to launch
into debates during this type of courses - which represents a considerable
difference with the courses in the secondary schools -, most of
the professors will give you time at the end of their courses to
answer your questions. Lecture halls are often crowded at the beginning
of the academic year. But after the first university holidays, a
big number of students decide to abandon the university. The misfortune
of some makes the happiness of the others : those that stay profit
from better studying conditions.
Practical works and tutorials : The
practical works (TD) (for the scientific subjects), or the tutorials
(TP) (for the other subjects), take place, in more limited groups
(around thirty students), in laboratories or in classrooms. They
illustrate the lectures with oral presentations or exercises and
allow to put into practice and to deepen the theoretical knowledge
acquired during the lectures. They are generally supervised by an
assisting professor or a master - assistant. The smaller number
of students in TDs or in TPs facilitates the contact with the teachers
and allows to come out of anonymity, which can prove useful in case
mishap : a professor often shows more leniency with someone he knows.
Advice : attend and listen to the courses
In preparatory classes to Grandes Ecoles, in IUT, in STS, the students
are well supervised. But at the university, most teachers consider
the students as responsible and rather grown-up persons to look
after themselves. In the lectures, the attendance is not systematically
controlled and one observes a progressive desertion of lecture halls
as months pass by. In TDs and in TPs, the attendance is often more
controlled and you will be less tempted to miss the classes. It
is obvious that for your studies, you'd better attend the classes.
But if your part-time job or the problems of transport prevent you
from attending a part of them, get organized with friends to attend
alternatively the classes. A tape recorder can be then a good tool.
But be careful : do not forget that for the renewal of your residence
permit, the prefecture can wield a control of the " seriousness
and the reality of the studies " and to demand certificates of assiduity,
school reports, etc. You have certainly no good reason for missing
the classes.
The 3rd cycle courses are totally different from the 1st and 2nd
cycle.
In DEA, in addition to the theoretical courses, you will follow
seminars conceived like small working groups, around a research
subject, your works being made most of the time in library or in
laboratory (according to the subject). It is mainly after the defense
of your report that your diploma will be delivered to you.
If each, the DESS have, for each of them, their its own modalities
but certain common points : the professionals associated to the
courses participate in the juries of exam and give between 40 and
50 % of the classes. The year also includes a training period in
a firm of minimum duration of three months, which counts for 50
% of the exam at the end of year.
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Final registration
