Syllabus for Police Services bachelor degree to change next year

The curriculum for the bachelor degree of the police service will be renewed and the new curriculum will be introduced in August 2023.

The new curriculum is based on a student-centered approach, reflecting the everyday professional work and narrative pedagogy that help students achieve more in-depth learning, said the police in a press release on Wednesday.

In the new curriculum, learning will be linked to cases based on working life. For example, the case may be an imaginary major incident in which the police encounter various types of crime and security threats.

Reflecting the everyday professional work and narrative pedagogy help students perceive situations, realize facts and issues and thus learn better.

“We are adopting a module-based curriculum in which subjects are not taught as separate entities, but as extensive interlinked themes. Key themes include preventive action, people skills and intelligence-led policing,” said Lotta Parjanen, Head of Education of the Police University College .

“At the end of each module, we ensure the student’s competence with the help of exercises, demonstration tests or various learning assignments. Once the students have completed the studies, they will have an overall view of the knowledge and skills required in the police profession and understand how things are interconnected,” she said.

The scope of the degree, 180 credits, will remain unchanged. The new aspect is that in the future, the duration of the entire degree will be utilized, that is, the studies are planned to cover a three-year period.

During the first 18 months, police students complete the basic studies and a part of the vocational studies. The following practical training period lasts a little less than a year. In the new curriculum, the students will have six months of studies left after the practical training period.

During this time, the students will finish their thesis and deepen their competencies. Specialization studies can be selected also from the course portfolios of other universities, and partly from the continuing education courses offered by the Police University College. Specialization may also include international projects and, for example, student exchange.