tools to promote transparency/understanding of students’ educational experiences a brief overview

NAFSA - EAIE Joint Symposium, Amsterdam, March 22-23, 2007

Tools to Promote Transparency/Understanding of Students’ Educational Experiences

A brief overview

Antoinette Charon Wauters

University of Lausanne, Switzerland

NAFSA - EAIE Joint Symposium, Amsterdam, March 22-23, 2007 A. Charon Wauters Slide 2

Outline

1. The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)1. A short history2. What is ECTS now?3. State of implementation (Trends V 13 03 2007)4. Questions still under progress

2. The Diploma Supplement§ Background§ What is the DS?§ State of implementation (Trends V 13 03 2007)§ Questions still under progress

3. Other tools

4. Conclusions


ECTS 1. A short history/1

ECTS

1. A short history: “From credit transfer to credit accumulation”

In 1989, ECTS was introduced as a pilot scheme in the ERASMUS programme.

Objective: facilitate academic recognition for the ERASMUS students by providing instruments for increased transparency and comparability, to assist recognition and portability of credits obtained in partner institutions.

In 1999, the signatory states in the Bologna process identified ECTS ‘as a proper means of promoting the most widespread student mobility’.

At the 2002 EUA Zurich conference on Credit Transfer and Accumulation, the role of ECTS in transfer and accumulation was endorsed.


ECTS 1. A short history/2

In 2003, at the Berlin conference, the Ministers stressed:a. the important role played by ECTS in facilitating student mobility and

international curriculum development; …b. They encourage further progress with the goal that the ECTS becomes

not only a transfer but also an accumulation system, …

In 2005, at the Bergen conference, Ministers identified also ECTS as:§ one of the key elements of the Framework of Qualifications for the

European Higher Education Area; § Implementing ECTS would also serve the implementation of the

Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, notably as regards information provision for students and the use of learning outcomes and their associated student workload.


ECTS 2. What is ECTS now?/1

2. What is ECTS now?

Sources: ‘ECTS User’s Guide’ 14 02 2005and new draft version 18 03 2007 still under discussion

The ECTS Key Features are presently under complete revision to emphasize the strong link that should exist between credits, workload and learning outcomes.

ECTS Key Features 2005"ECTS is a student-centred system based on student workload required to achieve the objectives of a programme of study. These objectives should preferably be specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired"

"60 credits feature the workload of a full-time student during one academic year. It amounts to around 1500-1800 hours per year, which corresponds to 25-30 student work hours per credit”



ECTS Key Features 2005 - 2

Student workload consists of the time required to complete all planned learning activities.

Credits are allocated to all educational components of a study programme and reflect the quantity of work each component requires to achieve its specific objectives or learning outcomes in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of study successfully.

Credits can only be obtained after successful completion of the work required and appropriate assessment of the learning outcomes achieved.



ECTS Key Features 2005 - 3

The majority of the ‘Bologna’ European countries, have introduced the ECTS in their legislation on the basis of this version of the Key Features.



ECTS Key documents for all learners and for mobile students

Information/Course Catalogue

ECTS Learning Agreement (internal and external use)

Student Application Form

ECTS Transcript of Records



ECTS Grade Interpretation Scheme (EGIS) (ex. ECTS Grading Scale)

ECTS grades carry credit and are awarded to students passing the assessments as follows:

10 % ECTS A grade25 % ECTS B grade30 % ECTS C grade25 % ECTS D grade10 % ECTS E grade-- FX (fail - some work required to pass)-- F (fail - considerable work required)


ECTS 3. State of implementation/1

3. State of implementation

Source: ‘EUA Trends V report’ (1st draft 13.03.2007) David Crosier et al.

These results will be presented next week at the EUA GA and will be published in ± 2 weeks. It will also be presented at the Ministers conference in London in May 2007.

These results are based on a questionnaire + site visits.

The questionnaire was sent to European HE institutions (920 answers) and addressed among other topics the :• use and implementation of credit systems,• recognition tools and procedures.

The visits (Nov.-Dec. 2006) complement the questionnaire’s answers.


Q23:credit transfer system

68

11,916,3

1,2 1,6

11,5

75,1

10,8

0

20

40

60

80

100

1. Yes, ECTS 2. Yes, but not ECTS 3. Not yet, but we

intend to develop onein the future

4. We do not intend to

implement one

T3

T5


Does your institution have a credit transfer system for all BA and MA programmes?

source TV 1st draft report version 13.3.2007


Does your institution have a credit transfer system for all BA and MA programmes?

Not yet, but we intend to develop one in the fu (4)Yes, but not ECTS (3)Yes, ECTS (36)


‘Does your institution have a credit transfer system for BA and MA programmes?’



Q22:credit accumulation system

50

22,4 22,5

66,4

18,312,6

0

20

40

60

80

100

1. Yes, ECTS 2. Yes, but not ECTS 3. Not yet, but weintend to developone in the future

Trends III

Trends V


Does your institution use an credit accumulation system for all BA and MA programmes?



Does your institution use a credit accumulation system for all BA and MA programmes?

NA (1)Not yet, but we intend to develop one in the future (3)Yes, but not ECTS (8)Yes, ECTS (31)

Does your institution use an credit accumulation system for all BA and MA programmes?




ECTS 4. Questions still in progress/1

4. Question still in progress

Issues arising from the Trends V site visits (Nov. -Dec 2006)

“ECTS is viewed as THE European credit system but the familiar problems regarding recognition of credits remain but at a slightly lesser scale than before”

“The increasing use of the learning agreements for mobile students has led in many cases to some improvements in recognition processes”

The link between credits and learning outcomes is not clear at all and for the staff and for the students.


ECTS 4. Questions still in progress/2

Other questions related to ECTS as a transparency tool

Allocation of credits and their link to workload and learning outcomes will, in many cases, have to be ‘fine tuned’ or ‘re-tuned’ after a few years of implementation

Course catalogues still need improvements (regular updates, translation, etc.)

The ECTS grading scale is still not widely used and the grades are not transferred, … only the credits

Etc…


For more information:

• EUROPA > Eduation and Training > ...> Socrates > ECTS

• EUA > Bologna > ECTS’

and very soon

• EUA >Trends V report


DS 1

Diploma Supplement

1. Background

The Diploma Supplement is a direct product of the Council of Europe/UNESCO “Convention on the Recognition of Qualification Concerning Higher Education in the European Region” adopted in Lisbon in 1997.


DS 2

2.What is it ?

An explanatory box on the Diploma Supplement principles and information sections provide the framework for the diploma supplement.A Diploma Supplement provides all information essential to make a valid judgement about any qualification (examples of completed Supplements can be found on the European commission DG EAC web site).

•Information identifying the holder of the qualification.•Information identifying the qualification.•Information on the level of the qualification.•Information on the contents and results gained.•Information on the function of the qualification.•Additional information.•Certification on the national higher education system.


DS 3

2. What is it ?

it is NOT

A Curriculum Vitae. A substitute for the original qualifications or transcript.

and certainly NOT

An automatic system that guarantees recognition.


3. State of implementationDS 4


Does your institution issue a Diploma Supplement to graduating students?


DS 5

4. Questions still in progress

Where the DS is already used:

- the required layout not always used- there is not always a translation in another European language- the national grading scale is not explicitly described- the national usefulness of the DS to students and employers has still

to be proved

For more information

European commission > Diploma Supplement


Other tools 1

Other and main future tools

Framework of Qualifications for the European Higher Education Area (the ‘Bologna’ Framework)levels 6-8 / ‘Dublin’ Descriptors

European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (the European Union Framework)all levels / LLL Descriptors

National Qualifications Frameworks

Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks

etc…


Conclusions

•Many transparency tools, maybe too much (ECVET), … under construction.

•ECTS and the DS are the most advanced tools immediately useful to understand a student educational experience in one specific European country.

•To get a good idea of the development of the use of all these transparency tools, use your European partners ! They have developed very specific skills these last decades helping them to keep track of the regional changes and to implement the new European transparency tools.

tools to promote transparency/understanding of students’ educational experiences a brief overview

Documents

role of ects

ects users

associated student workload

student work hours

european credit transfer

use of learning outcomes

fulltime student

terms of learning outcomes