national qualification framework and the

learning outcomes based education

Petar BezinovićUniversity of Rijeka and Institute for Social Research in Zagreb

First Croatian Bologna Seminar: Quality of higher education and adjustment to employment requirements

International Center for Education of Journalists – ICEJOpatija, 4 – 5 March 2005

1. A Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks)

2. Learning Outcomes Based Approach (OBE)

3. Croatian OBE initiatives

Topics

THE BOLOGNA PROCESSPrague 2001, Berlin 2003, next stop Bergen 2005

Bologna Declaration (19 June 1999) involves six actions:1. A system of academic grades which are easy to read and compare

2. A system based on two cycles

3. A system of accumulation and transfer of credits (ECTS)

4. Mobility of students, teachers and researchers

5. Quality assurance

6. The European dimension of higher education

The aim of the process – the higher education system converge towards a more transparent system – the different national systems would use a common framework

Qualifications Framework: Berlin communiqué

• Ministers encourage the member States to elaborate a framework of comparable and compatible qualifications for their higher education systems ...

• Elaborate an overarching framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area.

• To make higher education systems more transparent and to enhance the quality of European higher education at institutional and national levels.

Basics

• Qualifications are national according to national legislation

• Qualifications are articulated/located in national qualifications frameworks

• The 40 national frameworks are linked together through an alignment to an overarching framework of the EHEA

National Qualifications Frameworks

Definition:

The single description at national level which is internationally understood and through which all qualifications and other learning achievements in higher education may be described and related to each other in a coherent way and which defines the relationship between higher education qualifications.

Qualifications are increasingly expressed in terms of what a student is expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate on the successful completion of the approved programme of learning.

Why overarching EHEA framework?

• International transparency

• International recognition of qualifications

• International mobility of learners and graduates

Compatibility between national and the EHEA framework - some criteria

• The national framework for higher education qualifications and the body responsible for its development are designated by the national ministry with responsibility for higher education

• There is a clear and demonstrable link between the qualifications in the national framework and the cycle qualification descriptors of the European framework

• The national framework and its qualifications are demonstrably based on learning outcomes and the qualifications are linked to ECTS credits

• ...

Descriptors of qualifications and learning outcomes

Dublin descriptors (generic) (Joint Quality Initiative, JQI)

knowledge and understanding

applying knowledge and understanding

making judgements

communication skills

learning skills

Not subject specific

Principle elements

• Learning outcomes • Competences• Levels• Credits• Workload• Profile

What is Outcomes Based Education?

Outcomes Based Education focuses on student learning by:

• Using learning outcome statements to make explicit what the student is expected to be able to know, understand or do;

• Providing learning activities which will help the student to reach these outcomes;

• Assessing the extent to which the student meets these outcomes through the use of explicit assessment criteria.

What are learning outcomes?

Learning outcomes represent one of the essential building blocks for transparency within higher education systems and qualifications;

Learning outcomes have been defined above as:

Statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to do at the end of a period of learning.

Importance of learning outcomes

Learning outcomes have applications in many locations:

(i) the individual higher education institution (for course units/modules and programmes of study);

(ii) nationally (for qualifications, qualifications frameworks and quality assurance regimes); and

(iii) internationally (for wider recognition and transparency purposes).

They are important for the understanding of qualifications in society, for example by learners and employers.

Outcomes Based Educationstages in the backward design process

1LEARNING

OUTCOMES - DESIRED RESULTS

2ASSESSMENT – ACCEPTABLE

EVIDENCE

3LEARNING

EXPERIENCES AND

INSTRUCTION

ishodi

provjera

kako?

Implications of learning outcomes

Learning outcomes statements are typically characterised by the use of active verbs expressing knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, creation etc.

They have implications for qualifications, curriculum design, teaching, learning and assessment, as well as quality assurance.

Outcomes Based Education at the Programme Level

• The graduate outcomes for a degree are clearly written statements about the knowledge, skills and attitudes of its graduates.

• Graduate outcomes are developed from a number of sources including professional accreditation bodies, employer groups, the university educational principles and the professional experience of staff teaching in the discipline.

• Graduate outcomes represent the subject matter, techniques, skills and attitudes of central importance to the chosen discipline(s).

• From these outcomes the curriculum of the course is constructed, the subdivision of structure into units is made, and the outcomes specific to each of the units are derived.

Dynamic Quality Assessment Cycle

The concept of competence

• Competence is defined as the ability to meet demands or carry out a task successfully, and consists of both cognitive and noncognitive dimensions.Definition ans selection of competencies: Theoretical and conceptual foundations (OECD - DeSeCo, 2002)

• Competences that are important across multiple areas of life and that contribute to an overall successful life and a well-functioning society.Definition ans selection of competencies: Theoretical and conceptual foundations (OECD - DeSeCo, 2002)

The concept of key competences

The concept of competence

Recent initiatives in Croatia

• Outcomes based secondary school-leaving exams

• Development of national qualifications framework in vocational education according to Copenhagen declaration (Declaration of the European Ministers of Vocational Education and Training, and the European Commission, on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training - The Copenhagen Declaration, November 2002)