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1/ 2014
Issue 5/ 2014
News@SEFI
The SEFI Bulletin
www.sefi.be
European Society for Engineering Education
Europäische Gesellschaft für Ingenieur-Ausbildung
2 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
IN THIS ISSUE FROM SEFI AND ITS MEMBERS 3
General news
University of Aalborg
QUEECA TEMPUS Project
Cancellation of the joint workshop WG Educational Technologies and Curriculum Development
Latest Issue of the EJEE
FROM PARTNERS 6
IGIP-WEEF 2014
EUA Conference – ‘Mobilising Europe's Universities for Smart Specialisation’
European Space Agency
CESAEER HR Conference—TU Delft
CALENDAR 7
INTERNATIONAL PRESS REVIEW 8
Launch of U Multirank
U-Multirank: lacking data, defying uniformity
Leiden ranking 2014 – improved methodology in favour of smaller universities
EU public consultations
EU Call for proposals
Swiss participation in ERASMUS + : Interim solution for Erasmus+ in 2014
Are university students taking less time to graduate?
MOOCs are in high demand, especially for web design, according to new EC study
CréaMOOCs: a call for proposals to develop the National Digital Strategy in French Higher education institu-tions
Conference 'Towards a European Area of Skills and Qualifications' - Brussels, Belgium
Belarus takes Bologna path to come in from the cold
PUBLICATIONS 14
SEFI offers its gratitude for the continuous support of its Corporate Partners
3 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
FROM SEFI AND ITS MEMBERS General news
At this time of the year, we can only recommend to our members to register without any delay to the SEFI Annual Confer-ence to be held in Birmingham next September (www.sefi2014.com). The date for the early registration is indeed, June 30th. Amongst the plenary speakers are Prof. Dr. Ramakrishna (National University of Singapore), Dr. Willey, Sydney Uni-versity of Technology, Dr. Scurlock, Primary Engineer, Dr. Altman, University of Washington and Prof. Roberts, University of Birmingham. A series of high rank invited presentations that, further to the numerous papers to be presented, will for sure constitute the basis for some interesting reflections and discussions. ( From left to right Prof. Dr. Ramakrishna, Dr. Willey, Dr. Scurlock, Dr. Altman, and Prof. Roberts.)
The conference organised on the theme of “Educating Engineers for Global Competitiveness” will also be the occasion for several workshops to take place on various engineering education topics, including invited workshop of IIDEA and of Manuskills. The General Assembly of SEFI members, organised immediately after the conference on 19th September, will see elections of the future President of SEFI (2015-2017), of new Administrative Council members and working groups chairs, will ap-prove the new statutes of our organisation and the approval of the new SEFI orientation paper 2014-2019. It will therefore be a crucial moment for our Society and an excellent occasion for our members to express their views relating to the future of their Society. We hope that that you will be numerous to participate in it. In this context we are happy to announce that on the occasion of our last SEFI Administrative Council meeting held in Bir-mingham on May 21st, decision to establish a new Task Force on Engineering Skills has been taken. The idea of this Task Force results from discussions held on the occasion of our recent Deans’ convention and SEFI debate organised in Lund and in Brussels in early April. Details about the aims of this new Task Force can be found in News@sefi 4/2014. Later in this issue is an article about the new Aalborg Centre for PBL in Engineering Science and Sustainability, under the auspices of UNESCO, launched on 26-27 May. J. Schibler also attended a workshop on Human Resources organised by TU Delft and CESAEER (May 20-21) and a report can be found hereafter. Not to be missed in the coming weeks are the seminar organised by our active Working groups on Mathematics and engi-neering education to be held in Dublin on 23-25 June (see news@sefi 4/2014) . In June, I shall have the pleasure to participate in the Forum of the QUEECA project organised in Florence on 9-10 and in the Conference organised by UP Valencia, “ Valencia Global 2014” (19-20 June) with a presentation on “SEFI@40 Driving Engineering Education to Meet Future Challenges”. SEFI will also participate in the Committee of the Regions event organised in Brussels on 18 June on regional smart spe-cialization, chaired by Prof. Markku Markkula, and our President K. Hawwash and EEDC President M. Murphy will attend the ASEE 2014 Annual Conference and animated a plenary session of the ASEE International Forum (Indianapolis, 14-18 June 2014). Meeting of all the IFEES members and active partners is also on the agenda. Our partner organisations, IACEE and Cartagena Network, will also hold their annual events respectively in Palo Alto from the 24 to 27 June and Wroclaw, 16-18 June 2014 (see http://www.sefi.be/?page_id=3307). We hereby would like to wish them the very best for successful meetings. Also on our agenda for June are the preparation of our Annual report 2013-2014 (to be circulated in Birmingham next Sep-tember) and the follow up activities of the very interesting discussions organised also in May with EU DG Connect, DG Enter-prises and Industry, and the European SchoolNet organisation (K. Hawwash, X. Fouger and F. Côme). To put on your calendar too are the next SEFI debate to be held in Brussels most probably next November and the European Convention for Engineering Deans (ECED) to be hosted by UP Valencia on March 28-30 2015. F. Côme Secretary General
4 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
University of Aalborg
The Aalborg Centre for Problem Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability (hereafter the Aalborg Centre), is a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO, approved by the General Conference of UNESCO in November, 2013. The Aalborg Centre was formally launched on May 26, 2014, and the ceremonies were followed on May 27th by a Symposi-um on the Aalborg Model of PBL. Both meetings were attended by our Secretary General F. Côme, who also gave a presen-tation on the 27th on “A European Perspective on Engineering Education”. The other speakers of the Symposium were SEFI Vice-President and Dassault Systems Senior Director for Academy programmes, Xavier Fouger (“Tools to enhance PBL in engineering”), Virginie Servant, Managing Director Promethea, Erasmus University Rotterdam (“A short history of PBL”) and Khariyah Mohd Yusof, Director centre for EE at University of Technology of Malaysia (“Introducing PBL in Malaysia”). Moder-ator of the Symposium was Dr. de Graaff, University of Aalborg. ( On the left Signing of agreement between AAU and UNESCO, Rector Per Michael Johansen and Professor Maciej Nalecz, Director, Science Policy and Capa-city Building, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO - Representing the Director General of UNESCO. On the right, Dr. Anette Kolmos, Director of the UCPBL, former President of SEFI at the Inauguration of the center)
(From left to right, Virginie Servant, Xavier Fouger, Khariyah Mohd Yusof and Françoise Côme.)
About the centre Globally, there is a need for educating engineers and scientist that can participate in development of sustainable innovations. This will imply a reform of engineering and science education to educate engineers with employable knowledge and skills. The Aalborg Centre contributes to a reform strategy by combining Problem and Project Based Learning (PBL), Engineering Education Research (EER) and Education for Sustain-able Development (ESD). This is a unique combination of R&D areas that are mutual dependent and complement each other. Sustainable knowledge and skills require complex learning processes across existing disciplines and PBL is a learning methodology beneficial for that pur-pose. The activities in the Aalborg Centre will combine research, educa-tion and development across the three different research areas. A driving force for the Aalborg Centre is that Aalborg Uni-versity has an exemplary practice for both PBL and the integration of sustainability into engineering and science education. Since 1974, Aalborg University has practiced PBL as the pedagogical learning methodology during the entire study. Aalborg University has also the objective that all students during their study should gain sustainability knowledge, skills and compe-tences as a result of a series of sub-learning outcomes throughout the education. The Aalborg Centre encompasses the UNESCO Chair in Problem Based Learning (UCPBL) that were established in 2007 and is renowned for its accomplishments in supporting the development of Problem Based and Project Based Learning in Engi-
5 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
QUEECA TEMPUS Project
On May 30th, 2014, a group of engineering education leaders in Uzbekistan established the Association of Engineering Education in Uzbekistan (AEEUz). AEEUz colleagues are delighted to leverage their efforts to de-velop engineering education programmes as well as engage globally. The first elected President of the AEEUz is Professor Talat Magrupov. The recent creation of AEEUz is as a result of our Tempus QUEECA Project lead by SEFI former president President Claudio Borri, with the active support of our former Vice president and current IFEES President, Jose Carlos Quadrado . F.Côme will have the pleasure to meet these colleagues on the occasion of the QUEECA meeting to be held in Florence on 9-10 June
2014.
neering Education. The Aalborg Centre therefore starts out with the entire activity portfolio from the UCPBL. The Obel Fami-ly Foundation has kindly offered to sponsor the UNESCO Chair in PBL for a period of five years with the main task to lead the Aalborg Centre. More information on: http://www.ucpbl.net SEFI President, Prof. Hawwash, is a Member of the Consultative Committee of the Aalborg Centre.
Cancellation of the joint workshop WG Educational Technologies and Curriculum Development
Due to organisational limitations the WG Educational Technologies need to cancel the workshop on the 7th of June in Delft. This workshop was intended as an add on to the edX Global Forum #FutureEDU taking place on the TU Delft premises.
The edX Global Forum itself is open for all on Friday the 6th of June with an interesting program. More information you can find at http://futureedu.edx.org/ . If you have any questions, please contact Pieter de Vries ([email protected])
Latest Issue of the EJEE
Content: Students’ behaviour in peer assessment: a multi-criteria clustering approach Evangelia Krassadaki, Kleanthi Lakiotaki, Nikolaos F. Matsatsinis Engineering students’ sustainability approaches S. Haase Critical evaluation as an aid to improved report writing: a case study Mirabelle Walker, Judith Williams Working towards a scalable model of problem-based learning instruction in undergraduate engi-
neering education Archana Mantri How many hours of instruction are needed for students to become competent in engineering subjects? Alicia Perdigones, Susana Benedicto, Elvira Sánchez-Espinosa, Eutiquio Gallego, José L. García Engineering design projects as a reflection promoter Nissim Sabag, Elena Trotskovsky, Shlomo Waks ‘Human nature’: Chemical engineering students’ ideas about human relationships with the natural world Daphne Goldman, Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Julia Shemesh As a SEFI member, if there is any trouble in the reception of the EJEE, please contact Jacques Schibler, [email protected], or if you wish to become a member.
6 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
IGIP-WEEF 2014
Interdisciplinary conference focusing on the exchange of relevant trends and research results as well as the presentation of practical experiences in Engineering Pedagogy and Education. Therefore pilot projects, applications and products will also be welcome. IGIP Conference 2014 will be part of the World Engineering Education Forum - WEEF2014, 03-06 December 2014 in Dubai. For more info visit http://www.icl-conference.org/icl2014/
FROM PARTNERS
EUA Conference – ‘Mobilising Europe's Universities for Smart Specialisation’ A high-level conference entitled “Mobilising Europe's Universities for Smart Specialisation” will take place in Brussels on June 20. The event is convened by the Smart Specialisation Platform (S3 Platform), DG REGIO and EUA, with the objective to look at ways of enhancing the role of universities in Smart Specialisation.
Under the new EU Cohesion Policy framework, the existence and acceptance of Regional and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) have become an “ex-ante conditionality”. This means that member states have to have such strategies in place before they can receive EU financial support through the Structural Funds for their planned innovation measures, particularly in relation to strengthening research, technological development and innovation. EUA is committed to reinforcing the role of universities in the decision-making and implementation processes of Smart Specialisation and has been working with the S3 Platform to raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges in the establishment of partner-ships between regional bodies and universities. During the panel on “University-regional partnerships for Smart Specialisation”, four case studies will be presented high-lighting the experiences of universities and regional governing bodies on the preparation and implementation of strategies aiming at fostering regional competitiveness using European Structural Funds. The subsequent dialogue sessions will aim at developing a look towards the future perspectives of universities in RIS3. Registration for the event, taking place at the Charlemagne Auditorium, is open through the IPTS/JRC website and a draft programme can also be downloaded here. Travel and accommodation should be organised by the participants themselves. In case of any further questions, the organ-isers can be contacted by email: [email protected]
European Space Agency
The ESA Technical Directorate is offering sponsorship to students for the 'ESA Summer of Code in Space' (SOCIS). Through SOCIS, students can receive funding to contribute to open-source / free software for one of 21 projects selected by ESA. So if you are student interested in software and science and would like to contribute to an ESA project, please consult the SOCIS website and submit your proposal. For more information please contact [email protected]. More information can be found on: http://sophia.estec.esa.int/socis/
CESAEER HR Conference—TU Delft
On May 21-22, CESAEER held a specialised conference on HR in Higher Education, hosted by CESAEER President end Rector Magnificus of TU Delft, Prof. Karel Luyben. Alternating Keynote seesions and workshops, the conference alllowed to seized the expectation on CESAEER members and invited participants in terms of HR requirements. Among the Keynote Speaker one can underline the presentations of Lesley Wilson, Secretary General, European University Association on HR Development in Academia – challenges between natio-nal structures and internationalization: European Perspective, Fabienne Gautier, Head of Unit, ERA Policy and Reform in DG Research and Innovation on Creation of an open and attractive European labour market for researchers, Ellen Pearce, Chief Executive of CRAC and Director of Vitae on Nurturing researcher careers within universities, Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert, Pre-sident, Berlin University for Professional Studies on What makes a university attractive for talent?, as well as the very inte-resting Prof. Geoffrey Boulton, Regius Professor of Geology & Vice Principal Emeritus, Edinburgh University on Why and how should universities educate the researchers that societies need?
7 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
CALENDAR
SEFI's event or SEFI related event SEFI’s partners events
June 2014
10-12 Amman, JO 2nd Arab-Euro Conference on Higher Education (AECHE) (link)
15-17 Bordeaux, FR ACA Annual Conference 2014 (link)
July 2014 22-24 Guayaquil, EC LACCEI 2014 Conference (link)
9-10 Florence, IT QUEECA FORUM, Project and Management Board meetings (link) Françoise Côme to attend.
19-20 Valencia, ES International Meeting Valencia Global 2014, organised by Universitat Politècnica de València (link) F. Côme will give a presentation.
25-27 Katowice, PO 6th International Scientific Conference on Transport Pro-blems , Silesian University of Technology (link)
24-27 Palo Alto, US
14th IACEE World Conference on Continuing Engineering
30 Brussels, BE SEFI Bureau meeting, 10:00 —16:30
15-18 Indianapolis, US ASEE Annual Conference 2014 (link) and ASEE International Forum (with Profs. Hawwash and Murphy in charge of the SEFI plenary session)
15-18 Wroclaw, PO 6th Congress of the Cartagena Network of Engineering CNE-RCI (link) SEFI will be represented.
If the general orientation of the conference has been set towards research, and excellence, participants and keynote spea-kers underlined the necessity of changing the focus towards more and better education, than the sole competion of research. This conference was also an excellent opportunities to foster contact with existing and potential members of SEFI as well as with organisations active in the field of research such as Science Europe. Presentations should be available online shortly on http://cesaer.org/en/home/ Jacques SCHIBLER Communication Officer
23-24 Katowice, PO 3rd International Symposium of Young Researchers on Transportation Problems, Silesian University of Technology (link)
10-13 Zagreb, HR
Eden Annual Conference (link) SEFI Past President, W. Van Petegem to attend
8 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
INTERNATIONAL PRESS REVIEW
Rankings
Launch of U Multirank
On the occasion of a press conference held in Brussels on May 13th 2014,the U-Multirank was officially launched by the European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, Mrs. Androulla Vassiliou This EU ranking system, set up with €2 million (£1.6 million) of EU funding, assesses the performance of more than 850 higher education institutions across the world on five indicators: - research, - teaching, - international orientation, - success in knowledge transfer via partnerships with business and start-ups, and regional involvement. It does not produce a league table of institutions, but users are able to create a personalised ranking based on their priori-ties. Under the scheme, which also takes account of feedback from 60,000 students, more than 1,000 faculties and 5,000 study programmes from 70 countries are also marked on a range of activities and each assigned grades from “A” (very good) to “E” (weak). The ranking will “enable students to make more informed decisions about where to study and give us a more accurate picture of how universities perform”, said Mrs Vassiliou. It would also help students to look beyond a university’s research record, which tends to determine where institutions are placed in other university ranking systems, she added. “U-Multirank highlights many excellent performers that do not show up in current, research-focused, global rankings – including more than 300 universities that have never appeared in any world ranking until now,” Ms Vassiliou said. The ranking tool has been welcomed by the European Students Union, which represents more than 11 million students in 39 countries. U-Multirank is an attempt to move university information tools closer to the students’ reality, needs and ex-pectations.” The database can be consulted under : http://www.umultirank.org/#!/compare? trackType=compare&sightMode=undefined§ion=compareSwitch . For the press release and further information about U-Multiranking, please consult http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-548_en.htm On Times Higher Education: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/u-multirank-launched-by-eu-commissioner/2013272.article See also on SEFI Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SEFiaisbl?fref=ts ACA has also issued an article on the subject
“U-Multirank: lacking data, defying uniformity”
After six years and a EUR 2 million investment, the long-awaited EU-funded ranking tool U-Multirank was finally launched on 13 May in Brussels by Androulla Vassiliou, European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth. The “exciting new development in higher education” as she called it, is about making informed decisions about where to study, about meeting different needs and seeing more and better in higher education than just research-oriented universities. Imagined as a multidimensional tool, U-Multirank does not view research as the only criterion of a university’s quality, but looks into four additional parameters: quality of teaching and learning, international orientation, success in knowledge transfer (partnerships with business and start-ups) and regional involvement. Each of the criteria is scored from A (very good) to E (weak). With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that more than 300 universities included in U-Multirank have never before appeared in any global ranking. (…) Although U-Multirank potentially offers a comprehensive description of higher education institutions, its first edition is lacking depth. This is largely because universities did not provide enough data, which appears to be the consequence of many of them failing to keep record of relevant developments and actually
9 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
lacking data themselves. On top of that, the visibility of the student survey was apparently too low, which affected the number of respondents. Given that not all the respondents answered to all the questions in the survey, the representative-ness of the results can be questioned. One of the suggestions may be that the size of the sample be presented in the score-board in order to ensure transparency and indicate the degree of representativeness. Thus, challenges are not few in data collection and large part of the responsibility for the missing data can be attributed to universities. It is, nevertheless, a sign that better collaboration is needed on all sides if the tool is to offer diversity, transpar-ency and a global perspective. On the other hand, if one of the core missions of U-Multirank was to challenge the idea of absolute rankings and of a one-dimensional perspective, it seems to be quite successful. The multitude of possible ranking scores relative to the choice of criteria does point out to the diversity and complexity pertaining to quality in higher educa-tion. After all, this is just the beginning and the goal is to gradually add more institutions and more data to the system. The data collection for next year will start in autumn. The 2014 ranking looks at 4 academic fields: business studies, electrical and mechanical engineering, and physics, while three more disciplines will be added in 2015: psychology, computer science and medicine.
Full article and more information on : http://www.aca-secretariat.be/
Leiden ranking 2014 – improved methodology in favour of smaller universities
On 30 April the results of the Leiden Ranking 2014 were published, displaying an enlarged list of 750 universities with the largest contribution in international scientific journals in the period of 2009–2012, and using the ‘cleaned’ data from the Web of Science bibliographic database produced by Thomson Reuters. This year’s number one is a newcomer on the list – the Rockefeller University. Although much smaller in absolute numbers compared to MIT, Harvard and other top-scoring universities, the Rockefeller University has the highest number of citations relative to the total number of publications it produced. It is followed by MIT in the second place, Harvard in the third, Berkeley and Stanford in the fourth and fifth, respectively. (…) The sophisticated – and complex - methodology used for this ranking requires careful interpretation to avoid any injustice to the universities on the list. First of all, it focuses on citation impact and scientific collaboration of universities, and con-cerns only articles and reviews in core journals - in English only. Such an Anglophone-biased methodology eliminates a high number of publications in other widely spoken languages and puts many active universities in an undeserved disadvantage. Second, it deals with the percentage of frequently cited publications, not with absolute numbers. Thus, if the number one university – Rockefeller – was ranked against absolute numbers of citations, it would end somewhere around 300 on the list. In absolute terms, Harvard is the winner with more than twice as many citations as the number two – Stanford. Equally, citation impact does not coincide with scientific impact due to the frequent practice of scientists to cite one another for not always justifiable reasons. (…) The full ranking can be found on: Leiden Ranking 2014 More information and full article on: http://www.aca-secretariat.be/
Public consultation on the Europe 2020 strategy: towards a post-crisis growth strategy for Europe
The Commission has launched an online public consultation on the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU's long-term growth and jobs plan. The consultation will be open until 31 October 2014. Through this public consultation, the Commission is seeking the views of all interested people and organisations on the Europe 2020 strategy. The aim of the consultation is to draw lessons from the first four years of the strategy and to make sure it acts as an effec-tive post-crisis strategy for growth and jobs in Europe. It covers the scope, nature, instruments, ownership and delivery of the Europe 2020 strategy, and will provide important evidence for the mid-term review of the strategy, scheduled for 2015. A lot has been done in recent years to assist Member States in developing their national policies. Now is the right time to take stock of Europe 2020 and to think about what its focus should be in the coming years. Not only are we approaching the
EU Consultations
10 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
halfway point of the strategy but we are also emerging from the worst crisis faced by our economies. It is also timely to ex-amine where things stand as the EU prepares for a new political leadership following the European Parliament's elections. (…) The public consultation is available through Your Voice in Europe<http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm> or on the Europe 2020 website: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/public-consultation/index_en.htm The March Communication, 'Taking stock of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth', is availa-ble here: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/europe2020stocktaking_en.pdf Country-by-country data on Europe 2020 is available in the annexes to the March Communication: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/europe2020stocktaking_annex_en.pdf For more information on Europe 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm More information on: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-504_en.htm
Consultation of the stakeholders of the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 5
In the context of implementing Horizon 2020 (H2020), the European Union’s research and innovation framework pro-gramme, we are consulting stakeholders for the H2020 Societal Challenge 5 “Climate action, environment, resource effi-ciency and raw materials”. Stakeholders are invited to send us their insights and recommendations for 2016-2017, structured around seven questions listed in the consultation paper. For background information, stakeholders may consult the H2020 Specific programme, as well as the H2020 Societal Challenge 5 Advisory Group report, which represents a valuable basis and framework for this programming exercise. Anyone who would like to participate in this consultation is invited to send their contribution to [email protected] by 16 June 2014. More information on: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/news/consultation-stakeholders-horizon-2020-societal-challenge-5
Consultation for new FET Proactive topics
Do you have a great idea for a new technology that is not possible yet? Could it become real if Europe's best minds were put on the task? Share your view and the European Commission can make it happen via the Future and Emerging Technolo-gies (FET) programme. The consultation is open till 15 June 2014. The aim of the public consultation to identify promising and potentially game-changing directions for future research in any technological domain. The consultation is organised as a series of discussions, in which contributors can suggest ideas for a new FET Proactive initi-ative or discuss the 9 research topics identified in the previous consultation to determine whether they are still relevant today. More information on: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/content/consultation-new-fet-proactive-topics
Call for proposals Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships
The goal of Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition at multi- or interdisciplinary level through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility. Support is foreseen for individual, trans-national fellowships awarded to the best or most promising researchers for em-ployment in EU Member States or Associated Countries, based on an application made jointly by the researcher and host organisation in the academic or non-academic sectors. The call includes two sub-calls: European Fellowships or Global Fellowships. European Fellowships are held in EU Member States or Associated Countries and are open to researchers currently within and outside Europe. Global Fellowships are based on a secondment to a third country and a mandatory 12 month return period to a European host.
11 5 / 2014 news@SEFI Page
Swiss participation in ERASMUS + : Interim solution for Erasmus+ in 2014
Following the suspension of negotiations on Switzerland’s association to Erasmus+, the Federal Council tasked the EAER with drawing up an interim solution for 2014. This was approved at today’s Federal Council meeting. The interim solution gives priority to mobility activities and is based on the principle that Switzerland wishes to regain full associate country sta-tus. The interim solution contains the following main aspects:
Costs will be met by the budget originally earmarked for Switzerland's programme contributions to the European Com-mission in 2014 as an associate country in Erasmus+ (CHF22.7m).
The solution, in particular with regard to mobility activities, adheres as far as possible to the Erasmus+ requirements applicable for all European countries, with a view to renewing association to the programme.
The Federal Council sets out a number of priorities, and also states the activities which will not receive funding for the time being. In this it ensures that demand both at national level and among foreign institutions can be met as far as possi-ble. Mobility will be given priority, with 89% of the available funding going to this area, including to meet the costs of in-coming mobility.
The portion of the budget dedicated to project activities is considerably smaller than the amount set for full association to Erasmus+. Switzerland will also sets its own criteria regarding the projects to be funded. The Federal Council awards funding only to excellent projects which meet the education policy objectives set by the Confederation and the cantons. The interim solution for 2014 presented today has its limitations and does not provide the full range of opportunities offered by Erasmus+. However, it creates the framework necessary to implement planned learning mobility projects. It en-sures that Swiss participants enjoy as much continuity as possible until such time as Switzerland can again become an asso-ciate country in Erasmus+, which continues to be the Federal Council's intention. The Foundation is responsible for imple-menting the interim solution. It is also Switzerland's aim to re-establish its association to the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The Fed-eral Council will draw up an interim solution on this issue at a later stage, as soon as the situation with the EU is clear. More information on: https://www.news.admin.ch/message/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=52695
Erasmus +
New trends of Education
Are university students taking less time to graduate?
University is both a formative and enjoyable period in a young person’s life. Some who can afford to postpone their entry into the job market like it so much that they spend many years studying for a degree. Others have to repeat courses and semesters to succeed. Traditionally university programmes are designed as long and demanding trajectories, especially within Europe. In a paradigm of higher education, oriented towards the selection of the future elite, the length of study in itself works as a selection tool. With massification of higher education from the 1970s onwards, as well as changes in the purpose and social functions of universities, the length of study became a policy issue. Each year of an individual’s study required a significant public invest-ment, therefore the time spent acquiring a degree became a budgetary concern. Moreover, time spent at colleges and uni-versities was increasingly seen as an inappropriate mechanism of social selection, favouring those who had the resources to spend their young lives studying and punishing those unable to postpone earning a salary for too long. Additionally, demo-graphic challenges increased the need to raise the activity rate in the population, and the need to recruit young people for the job market sooner. Consequently, governments started to develop policies to shorten the length of study, shift some of the financial burden to students, and provide universities with the incentives for shorter study programmes. (…) Data presented in the latest issue of the Education Indicators in Focus series allows us to evaluate the changes in the length of study careers, at least up until graduation with a first degree. Comparing OECD countries with available data, we learn that the median age of graduation decreased from 25.2 in 2005, to 25.0 in 2008 and down to 24.7 in 2011. This means that in 2011 the median student graduated half a year earlier than in 2005. (..)
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Despite the general trend, in some countries including Austria, Israel, Spain and Turkey, the median age of graduation actually increased during the same time frame. . Various institutional factors and participation patterns might explain these differences, but the socio-economic context should also be taken into account. For example, huge youth unemploy-ment in Spain probably played a role in keeping students longer at university in 2011 compared to 2008. The average decrease in the age of graduation, especially in countries where youth was less affected by the economic cri-sis and the job market still offered prospects for earning a living, might also be explained by composition effects. Students coming from less affluent families tend to have shorter studypaths, because they cannot afford to postpone earning a sala-ry fortoo long. In several countries this is also noticeable in the increase of the number of students studying part-time. Flexible work-study arrangements allow students to combine study with work. When the economic crisis erupted in 2008, on average 19.6% of students studied part-time; in 2011 this number had risen to 22.0%. The increase was very significant in again, Spain (from 12.2% to 27.1%), Germany (4.5% to 13.5%), Belgium (12.6% to 17.3%) and Canada (17.7% to 22.8%). Credit-systems and increased flexibility in study arrangements have provided more opportunities for part-time study and combined study-work trajectories. Of course, having more part-time students works against having a lower median age of graduation. Today a first university degree – in most cases a bachelor’s degree – takes less time to acquire than in the past. Pressures on students to graduate faster have increased, both as a result of government policies, institutions’ actions to improve quality and efficiency and the general socio-economic context. University might be less leisurely, but on-campus life, learn-ing soft skills such as making friends and forming social networks, is still an essential part of nurturing successful study. Links: Education Indicators in Focus, Issue No. 23, by Dirk Van Damme and Corinne Heckmann On this topic, visit: Education Indicators in Focus: www.oecd.org/education/indicators On the OECD’s education indicators, visit: Education at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators: www.oecd.org/edu/eag.htm
More information and full article on: http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.be
Moocs
MOOCs are in high demand, especially for web design, according to new EC study
The European Commission has published a new study on the supply and demand of MOOCs related to web skills. It shows that while MOOCs are widely recognized as a valuable learning opportunity, students struggle to find appropriate courses. The study is based on the analysis of over 200 MOOC providers and almost 3000 online survey respondents from around the world. The objective of the study was to investigate the supply and demand of MOOCs related to web skills and better understand the potential of MOOCs to develop the skills needed in the current market. The survey sample includes learn-ers, MOOC providers, entrepreneurs, leaders of innovation support programmes, corporate managers, and IT professionals. Key findings MOOCs are a widely recognized learning opportunity – 3 in 4 respondents knew what a MOOC is and 64% claimed to have taken one
The web skill highest in demand among students was web design
IT professionals indicated that one of the difficulties of the current labour market is acquiring employees with domain-specific skills such as iOS, Android, and HTML5 experts. They ranked MOOCs alongside on-the-job training as the best ap-proaches to develop such skills. (…) The study also illustrated the diversity of MOOC business models. The most prevalent approach was to use the MOOC as a tool for promotion and public image, but other models were well represented such as the freemium model and the hybrid model. The European Commission strives to promote web entrepreneurship and the creation of new jobs in the digital sector. The study was carried out by P.A.U. Education on behalf of the EC in the context of the EC's MOOCs for Web Talent initia-tive. The press release and the full report, including policy recommendations, are now available online. More information on: http://openeducationeuropa.eu
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CréaMOOCs: a call for proposals to develop the National Digital Strategy in French Higher education institutions
Since 12 May 2014 a call for projects "CréaMOOCs" has been open and available here. In total, EUR 3 million will provide the future Communities universities and institutions (COMUE) with digital equipment and assist the teaching staff in the use of digital resources. This initiative is part of the National Digital Strategy launched by the Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research of 2 October 2013 and it aims to encourage the development of digital tools to assist student success, the democratisation of access to knowledge and the international attractiveness of French higher education institutions. The call for proposals will take into account the overall digital project developed by institutions, including synergies at one or more sites, the link with the action of Digital Universities in the regions but also teacher training and openness to socio-economic actors in the area. While more than 260 000 people have registered since January 2014, following 36 MOOCs posted on the platform France Digital University (FUN – France Université Numérique), this call for proposals will support the development of innovative educational content carried out by French higher education institutions. The deadline for submissions is 2 July 2014. More information on : http://www.aca-secretariat.be/
Conference 'Towards a European Area of Skills and Qualifications' - Brussels, Belgium
The conference organised by the European Commission in Brussels, 17 June 2014, will present the results of the public con-sultation and the Eurobarometer survey on a European Area of Skills and Qualifications. Key experts, policy makers and stakeholders will reflect on possible ways forward. Further details on the programme and registration will follow soon. More information on: http://www.ehea.info/event-details.aspx?evId=547
Belarus takes Bologna path to come in from the cold
Walking a diplomatic tightrope between neighbouring Ukraine and Russia, Belarus – a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States – is attempting to adopt liberal market-led policies to improve the quality of its higher education and to attract more international students. As part of such moves, a deal was signed last month in the capital, Minsk, between a UK awarding body – the Association of Business Executives – and the Belarusian government recognising ABE qualifications as the equivalent of the country’s di-plomas of higher education and master’s degrees. The signing of such a memorandum is part of a campaign by Belarus to join the Bologna Process, a system designed to en-sure comparability in the standards of higher education qualifications and to promote freedom of movement within Eu-rope. (…) By investing 2 per cent of its gross domestic product in improving the quality of its higher education, Belarus hopes to shift a stagnant economy that is reliant on state-owned manufacturing companies supplying Russia with lorries, coaches and chemicals towards high-technology industries. “We have a very good higher educational platform here, but we don’t have enough specialists in business and technology. We would like to see more research devoted to pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology,” said Mr Maskevitch. Although the Russian higher education “five plus one” model of combining undergraduate and master’s education is widely adopted within Belarus, universities are now trying to shorten degree courses to converge with the Bologna Process. At the same time, degree syllabuses are becoming less prescriptive and more influenced by the views of student councils and em-ployer bodies. Belarusian universities have also been upgrading quality management systems to meet European standards in an attempt to become more like the West. Anatoly Osipov, first vice-rector of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radio-electronics, said his institution achieved a key European kitemark for quality management in 2010, “and this academic year
Bologna Process
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for the first time we have started offering a four-year undergraduate degree followed by a two-year master’s to bring us closer to the European system”. Despite these efforts, the Soviet Union’s legacy is still apparent in a country where academic freedom can be constrained and degree syllabuses traditionally need state approval. These are issues that must be resolved ahead of the republic’s Bologna bid. (…) Degrees taught in English are also helping to open up Belarus to the West. Institutions such as the Belarusian State University and the BSUIR have recently begun offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees taught in the language. Already a third of all master’s students and 20 per cent of doctoral students at BSUIR, which has more than 16,000 stu-dents in all, are international. “Teaching in English helps us interact better with foreign students and is a lot more success-ful than trying to teach them the basics of Russian in one year,” Dr Osipov said. As a result of this policy, numbers of inter-national students at BSUIR are doubling year on year, he said. Although, in the main, international students in Belarus still come from fellow CIS countries such as Uzbekistan and Ka-zakhstan, many are arriving from as far afield as China, Vietnam, Turkey and Iran. In all, there are now about 16,000 inter-national students in Belarus from 98 countries, a figure that Mr Maskevitch would like to see doubled. But the key to Belarus’ success – and perceptions about the extent to which it has come in from the cold – may hinge on encouraging students from elsewhere in Europe, particularly in the West, to study there. “Europe is under-represented, but I hope our education reforms will soon change that,” Dr Osipov said. More information on: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/belarus-takes-bologna-path-to-come-in-from-the-cold/2013230.article
Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Access, Retention and Employability
The development of quality mass higher education systems is high on the policy agendas at both national and European levels. An increasing number of European citizens require high level knowledge, skills and competences to expand the knowledge-base and foster innovation and progress. Thus, higher education systems in Europe should be designed to respond and adapt to the needs of our increasingly knowledge-based economy and societies. To support evidence-based policy making, this Eurydice report sheds light on current national and institutional policies and practices aimed at increasing and widening access, re-ducing student dropout, and improving the employability of higher education graduates in Europe. The report covers 36 European countries and education systems and consolidates information from three
different sources: Eurydice national units, national quality assurance agencies and site visits to higher education institutions. http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/thematic_reports/165EN.pdf http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/thematic_reports_en.php
Collection of selected papers from the 8th European Quality Assurance Forum published
The European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF) has been organised by the E4 Group (ENQA, ESU, EUA, and EURASHE) since 2006. The last Forum in 2013, held at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, showed once again that quality assurance professionals derive significant benefits from meeting and exchanging ideas with their colleagues from various national and organisational backgrounds. At the Forum, participants from approximately 50 countries explored how both individuals and organi-sations can better understand the role that quality assurance plays in their daily lives, get involved and work together. In the discussions, there was a particular emphasis on the concept of “quality culture” and the importance of fostering attitudes and values. A selection of the many contributions to the 2013 Forum is now available in a new publication on the EUA website entitled “Working together to take quality forward”. The Forum Steering Committee
hopes these contributions will serve as an inspiration to everyone involved in QA. The next European Quality Assurance Forum will be held from 13 to 15 November 2014 at the University of Barcelona, Spain, with the theme of “Changing education – QA and the shift from teaching to learning”. The call for contributions in the form of papers and workshop proposals is currently open and can be accessed here.
Publications
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Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Emerging perspectives on institutional transformation
Smith, Daryl G., (Ed.). Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Emerging perspectives on institutional transformation . New York: Routledge. 2014. Pages: 176
This series concentrates on the global developments universities are going through and the related challenges they are facing to keep up the pace. The discussion in the book starts from the premise that there are four major dynamics for change that affect higher education internationally:
1. Mass higher education is a universal phenomenon.
2. National systems are in an increasingly global market place that is particularly significant for their
more prestigious institutions.
3. Higher education institutions have acquired (or been obliged to acquire) a wider range of responsi-
bilities, often pressured by governments, in order to secure state policy goals. The balance between the public and private financing of higher education has shifted in favour of the latter. Another pertinent source of big transformations is examined – demographic changes in society
and growing equity requirements, which requires higher education to engage in the necessary transformations towards inclusive and pluralistic societies. The volume looks into these changes and the consequent large-scale developments no-ticeable in higher education systems such as transnational cooperation, market orientation and the rise of MOOCs, and analyses how higher education systems and institutions are coping with these changes. Geographically, contributions cover South Africa, the UK, Brazil and the US, plus New Zealand through a comparative lens with the US. More information on: http://www.aca-secretariat.be/
The SEFI newsletter contains information about SEFI’s recent activities as well as a sum-mary of the latest stories in higher engineering education in Europe and worldwide. News@sefi is sent for free to SEFI members. All previous issues are available on www.sefi.be “members only”. All staff and students of an institution, an association or a company member of SEFI are entitled to receive free copies of the newsletter. So, in case you know somebody that is interested in a free copy, feel free to contact us.
SEFI aisbl 39, rue des Deux Eglises, 1000 Brussels Tel: +32 2 502 36 09 Fax: +32 2 502 96 11 [email protected] www.sefi.be Editor: SEFI aisbl
SEFI is the largest network of higher engineering education institutions (HEIs) and educators in Europe.
It is an international non-profit organisation created in 1973 to contribute to the development and improvement of HEE in Europe, to reinforce the position of the engineering professionals in society, to promote information about HEE and im-prove communication between teachers, researchers and students, to reinforce the university-business cooperation and to encourage the European dimension in higher engineering education.
Through its membership composed of HEIs, academic staff, students, related asso-ciations and companies, SEFI connects over 1 million students and 158000 academ-ic staff members in 48 countries.
To reach its goals, SEFI implements diverse activities such as Annual Conferences, Ad hoc seminars/workshops organised by its thematic working groups and com-mittees, SEFI organises the European Engineering Deans Conventions, publishes a series of Scientific publications (European Journal of Engineering Education) and Position Papers, is involved in European projects, cooperates with other major Eu-ropean and international associations and international bodies (European Commis-sion, UNESCO, Council of Europe, OECD).
SEFI also participated in the creation of ENAEE, IFEES, EuroPace, IACEE and more recently of the Institute for the development of Engineering Academics, IIDEA, and of the European Engineering Deans Council, EEDC.
Please send your contributions for the June issue to [email protected] before 26 June 2014
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