The course consists of the following modules:

• DIT1 Digital written exam, 2 credits (Fx, E, D, C, B, A)
• LAB1 Laboratory work, 2 credits (Fx, E, D, C, B, A)
• UPG1 Project work, 2 credits (Fx, E, D, C, B, A)

To pass the course, you must pass (grade E or higher) all three modules. Your final grade for the course is the median of the grades awarded for the three modules. (To compute the median of three grades, you sort them and pick the middle one.)

When do I get my grade? For each attempted module, the examiner will decide about your grade within 15 working days after the module’s formal examination date. Your final grade will be set as soon as you have passed all modules.

When does a module count as attempted? A module counts as attempted when you take an examination or submit an assignment that belongs to that module, such as the first lab in a lab series.

What happens if I fail to pass a module? If you attempt but do not pass a module, your grade will be Fail. You have two additional examination attempts for each module during the year following the course; see the section on Additional examination.

The digital written exam tests how well you are able to explain basic methods for the analysis and interpretation of words, sentences, and texts (learning outcome 1). This includes relevant validation methods.

Knowledge requirements

Grade E. You demonstrate a thorough understanding of the basic methods that are covered in the course. You assess the applicability, requirements, and limitations of methods with simple judgements. You use relevant terminology and notation with some certainty.

Grade C. You satisfy all of the requirements for grade E and most of the requirements for grade A.

Grade A. You demonstrate a thorough understanding of the basic methods that are covered in the course, as well as several of the more advanced methods. You assess the applicability, requirements, and limitations of methods with well-developed judgements. You use relevant terminology and notation with certainty.

For more information, please read the Assessment criteria for critical judgements.

Form of the examination

The digital written exam consists of two parts:

Part A consists of 5 items, each worth 3 points. These items test your understanding of the basic methods that are covered in the course. They require only compact answers, such as a short text, calculation, or diagram.

Part B consists of 3 items, each worth 6 points. These items test your understanding of the more advanced methods that are covered in the course. They require detailed and coherent answers with correct terminology and notation.

Exams from previous sessions

Please observe that course content, form of the exam, and grading criteria may vary from year to year.

• Exam 2023-03-20
• Exam 2022-03-21 (video walk-through)
• Exam 2021-03-19 (version 2)

For the 2020 session, due to the pandemic, the written exam was administered as a modified project assignment.

Grade requirements

• Grade E: at least 12 points in Part A
• Grade D: at least 12 points in Part A and at least 4 points in Part B
• Grade C: at least 12 points in Part A and at least 7 points in Part B
• Grade B: at least 12 points in Part A and at least 10 points in Part B
• Grade A: at least 12 points in Part A and at least 14 points in Part B

Note that you cannot use surplus points in one part to raise your score in the other part.

Examination date and registration

The formal examination date for this module is the date of the digital written exam, which you will find in the Student Portal. In order to take the digital written exam, you have to register for it. The last day to register is 10 days before the exam.

Feedback

To get feedback about how well you meet the knowledge requirements for this module, you can attend the teaching sessions, answer the diagnostic questions in the study materials, and take the optional tests. In addition, you can always get personalized feedback from the examiner. Book an appointment

Short-circuit evaluation. In the interest of fast turnaround, we stop grading your exam as soon as it becomes clear that you can no longer get a higher grade. If you want feedback on items that we have not graded, you are welcome to contact the examiner. Sample solutions for Part A will be made available after the exam.

During the course you can take optional tests on individual topics. When you pass the test for a topic, you earn a wildcard for the respective item in Part A of the written exam. This wildcard gives you the full number of points for the corresponding item. We will credit you with at most three (3) wildcards in total, and they are only valid for the first written exam (not the additional exams).

You will find the dates, times, and locations for the optional tests in the timetable. You do not need to register for the optional tests.

• Optional tests 2023
• Optional tests 2020
• Optional tests 2019
• Optional tests 2018
• Optional tests 2017

(Due to the pandemic, no tests were administered during the 2021 and 2022 sessions.)

The practical assignments test how well you are able to practically apply language technology methods and systems to texts and text collections (learning outcome 2) and to evaluate language technology components and systems using standard validation methods (learning outcome 3).

Knowledge requirements

Grade E. You correctly apply the basic methods that are covered in the course according to given instructions. You make minor modifications to existing systems and implement simple functions. You interpret results and assess the applicability, requirements, and limitations of methods with simple judgements.

Grade C. You correctly apply the basic methods that are covered in the course, as well as several of the more advanced methods, and use them to independently solve practical problems. You make extensive modifications to existing systems and implement complex functions. You interpret results and assess the applicability, requirements, and limitations of methods with simple judgements.

Grade A. You correctly apply the basic methods that are covered in the course, as well as most of the more advanced methods, and use them to independently solve practical problems. You make extensive modifications to existing systems and implement your own systems from scratch. You interpret results and assess the applicability, requirements, and limitations of methods with simple judgements.

Form of the examination

The assignments of this component consist of lab assignments or ‘labs’, which are done in pairs. The labs come at three levels:

Level A consists of 6 labs that test your command of the basic methods that are covered in the course. These labs come with step-by-step instructions and ready-to-run systems. The instructions ask you to make minor modifications to these systems, evaluate the systems on text data, and interpret your findings.

Level B consists of 3 labs that test your command of some of the more advanced methods that are covered in the course. These labs are formulated as problem specifications and come with ready-to-run systems. To solve the specified problems, you will have to make significant modifications to the these systems, evaluate them on text data, and interpret your findings.

Level C consists of 2 labs that test your command of some of the more advanced methods that are covered in the course. These labs are formulated as problem specifications and come with little or no code. To solve the specified problems, you will have to implement your own limited-size systems, evaluate them on text data, and interpret your findings.

The labs are examined based on lab reports in the form of Jupyter Notebooks. More information on notebooks

Grade requirements

For grade E, you need a Pass on all the labs at level A. For higher grades, you additionally need Passes on the more advanced labs (levels B or C). Each Pass increases your grade by one step, up to Grade A.

Examination date and registration

The formal examination date for this module is the final examination date for the course session, 2023-03-25. Before submitting your first lab, you and your lab partner will have to register in Webreg.

Feedback

To get feedback about how well you meet the knowledge requirements for this module, you can attend the tutored lab sessions and make sure that you submit your assignments in time for the first due date. In addition, you can always get personalized feedback from the examiner. Book an appointment

The project assignments primarily test how well you are able to judge the difficulty and the feasibility of language technology applications (learning outcome 4). They also test how well you are able to practically apply language technology methods and systems to texts and text collections (learning outcome 2), and to evaluate language technology components and systems using standard validation methods (learning outcome 3).

The assignments centre around a group project in which you investigate a language technology application of your choice.

Knowledge requirements

Grade E. In collaboration with the other members of your group, you identify, plan, and carry out a simple project, and present the project in a way that makes it clear what application of language technology you investigated, what results you obtained, how you interpret these results, and what conclusions you draw regarding the difficulty and feasibility of the chosen application. You make simple reflections on your project and your own learning.

Grade C. You meet all of the criteria for grade E and most of the criteria for grade A.

Grade A. In collaboration with the other members of your group, you identify, plan, and carry out a complex project, and present the project in a way that makes it very clear what application of language technology you investigated, what results you obtained, how you interpret these results, and what conclusions you draw regarding the difficulty and feasibility of the chosen application. You make well-developed reflections on your project and your own learning.

For more information, please read the Guidelines for the post-project paper.

Form of the examination

The project should be done in groups of approximately 6 students, and is examined based on hand-in assignments and an oral project presentation. Some of these deliverables are group work, some are individual. Your grade is based on the following two parts:

• project complexity and presentation (group)
• post-project paper (individual)

For detailed grading criteria, please read the following:

• Assessment criteria: Project complexity and presentation
• Guidelines for the post-project paper

Grade requirements

Each part is assigned a grade on the ECTS scale. For a passing grade (grade E or higher), you must have a passing grade (A–E) on both parts. Your grade for the complete module is the average of the grades for the two parts, rounded towards the grade of the individual part if necessary.

Examination date and registration

The formal examination date for this module is the final examination date for the course session, 2023-03-25. You register for the examination by submitting the first project deliverable. More information on deliverables

Feedback

Detailed information on how you get feedback about how well you meet the knowledge requirements for this module is available on the Project page. In addition, you can always get personalized feedback from the examiner. Book an appointment

When you have completed an assignment, submit the required files through Lisam. If you are submitting on behalf of a group, make sure to specify all members of that group.

Each assignment has two due dates: The first date is stated in the instructions for the assignment. The second due date (deadline) is the final examination date for the course session, 2023-03-25.

Why should I try to meet the first due date? If you meet the first due date, you will get formative feedback on your assignment and the chance to revise it before its final assessment after the deadline.

To meet a due date, it suffices to submit before 08:00 on the first working day after that date. For example, if the due date is on a Friday, it suffices to submit the assignment before 08:00 the following Monday (assuming this is a working day).

Each piece of work you present for examination must be entirely your own. You are not allowed to give or receive aid on an assignment unless such collaboration is explicitly permitted. The use of prohibited aids is cheating.

The following, in particular, is not allowed:

• copying code from other lab groups, or letting other lab groups copy your code
• making lab solutions available via public channels, such as GitHub

When using external sources (such as text or code) in work that you present for examination, you must appropriately acknowledge these sources. This rule also applies to materials obtained from the internet. Failure to acknowledge your sources is plagiarism.

We must report suspected cheating and plagiarism cases to the University Disciplinary Board. No exceptions exist to this rule, no matter how slight the potential offence. More information on disciplinary measures

For each module, there are two additional examination opportunities during the year following the course session:

• during the re-exam period for VT1 (last day: 2023-06-09)
• during the general re-exam period after the summer break (last day: 2023-08-27)

After this you can still be examined in connection with the next course session. Note however, that the next session may have different content, different assignments, and different examination requirements.

The following specific rules apply for the different modules:

DIT1 Digital written exam

Please see the Student Portal for the dates of the digital written exams. To take a digital written exam, you need to register for it. The last day to register is 10 days before the exam.

LAB1 Laboratory work

To take one of the additional examinations of this module, you must submit or re-submit all practical assignments (labs) that you do not already have a Pass on. The deadline for this is the last day of the relevant examination period.

When submitting an assignment for one of the additional examinations, you must follow the same instructions as for the ordinary examination. For more information, please read about the Examination of the lab module.

UPG1 Project work

To take one of the additional examinations of this module, you need a Pass on the Project presentation (D4). If you do not already satisfy this requirement, you must consult with the examiner at least 10 days before the last day of the relevant examination period.

Assuming that you have a Pass on the Project presentation (D4), you must submit or re-submit your Post-project paper (D6). The deadline for this is the last day of the relevant examination period.

When submitting an assignment for one of the additional examinations, you must follow the same instructions as for the ordinary examination. For more information, please read about the Examination of the project module.