Review of courses

Exam week is well behind me and second half courses are already in full swing, so it is perhaps time to fulfill one of the exchange blog requirements Aalto made and write about courses I have taken at Nova. As each course I take is worth 3,5 ECTS, I took four courses in the first half and have another three in the second half to gather the necessary 24 ECTS that are required for the Master's minor. I will write brief comments on the first four courses that I have gotten final grades for and later in December get back to the last three courses that I am doing now. 

Consumer Behavior - Professor Luis Martinez

This was perhaps the most theoretical course I have taken in a few years. Basically it extensively went through the different internal and external factors that effect consumer behavior by covering chapters of a given book. The lectures themselves were not too exciting or engaging, but attendance was also not mandatory. The workload of the course was very do-able - basically it consisted of writing a 5 page group paper on a selected topic, giving an 8 minute group presentation and taking an exam. The topic itself is quite self-explanatory especially if you have taken marketing courses before, but beware of the exam - it was surprisingly detailed and demanding considering how the rest of the course was. Overall I did not learn too many new things, but if you do not want to stress too much about courses on exchange I would recommend taking this one.

E-Commerce - Professor David Bernardo

This was definitely one of the most useful courses that I have taken throughout studies - it was extremely relevant and practical, covering e-commerce from various perspectives and providing actual tools to work with. The professor had impressive experience in the field, really knew his area and gave entertaining, engaging lectures. The overall work load was not too heavy (two homeworks that were done over weekends and one 12-page group paper) but since it was an intensive three week course, it felt like you were working with it all the time. Especially the two homeworks were very practical - we used Google AdWords, calculated Customer Lifetime Value, wrote newsletters etc. There were no books or other materials to study for the course, so succeeding in the exam really depended on how well you knew what was taught in class. If you have any interest in learning about business in the digital environment, or just want to attend interesting lectures, I  would definitely recommend taking this course at Nova! 

History of Globalization - Professor Maria Eugénia Mata

From previous exchange reports and a lack of deep interest in the topic, I did not have too high expectations for this course. The professor was quite enthusiastic about the topic area but the slides and lectures were not always clear or easy to follow.  The workload however was clearly explained and relatively light - it consisted of writing a short individual essay and giving a group presentation about a given academic article. The exam accounted for 60% which is much higher than in the other courses, but I mainly read the conclusion parts of given academic articles when studying for it. Compared to other courses I took, this was also the only one in which the professor actually provided feedback and results on assignments throughout the course - in all other courses we just received a final grade before getting any other feedback. Considering the workload and time this course consumes, it could be considered quite an optimal choice for exchange. 

Venture Creation - Professor Manuel Forjaz

I would not classify myself as a entrepreneurially enthusiastic person so this course was rather out of my comfort zone. However the professor is quite the motivational speaker and was able to make entrepreneurship just a little more appealing to me than it was before. We learned some very practical things about creating business ideas, giving elevator pitches and  writing business plans. The professor's goal was for students to start companies during the course, which would result in a grade 20 immediately (the grading scale is 1-20, but you need 10 to pass). Getting that score by actually doing given assignments was harder, however the professor did guarantee a passing grade for anyone who just attended lectures and the exam. In the end, although the lectures by the professor were inspiring and interesting, the course itself was quite confusing and I'm not sure if any student completely understoof what we were supposed to do. The final exam says quite a lot - no one was told it was open book, although half of the students thought you could bring a laptop and the other half had no clue (but Nova's policy forbids laptops in final exams so we couldn't use them anyway).