Transcript REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS IN THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA Belgrade, 1-2 November 2007 Learning outcomes in national qualifications frameworks Stephen Adam, University of.

REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON
QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORKS IN THE
EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA
Belgrade, 1-2 November 2007
Learning outcomes in national qualifications frameworks
Stephen Adam, University of Westminster, UK Bologna promoter
Learning outcomes, credits
and qualifications
frameworks are just tools to
improve our educational
systems!
FOCUS:
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What are learning outcomes?
Learning outcomes as the basic building blocks of the Bologna Process
Why use learning outcomes?
How can learning outcomes aid educational reform?
Levels of application: learning outcomes have profound implications …
Towards a typology of learning outcomes and their multiple applications
National qualifications frameworks and learning outcomes
Old versus new qualifications
Student-centred learning
An improved curriculum development process using learning outcomes
The EHEA represents a coherent approach to higher education - and
involves new ‘educational infrastructure’ using learning outcomes
12. Learning outcomes and qualifications frameworks – many challenges
13. Final thought …
1. What are learning outcomes?
• Learning outcomes are statements of what a learner is expected
to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate at the end of
a period of learning. They are explicit statements about the
outcomes of learning – the results of learning.
• They are usually defined in terms of a mixture of knowledge,
skills, abilities, attitudes and understanding that an individual
will attain as a result of his or her successful engagement in a
particular set of higher education experiences.
• In reality, they represent much more than this. They exemplify a
particular methodological approach for the expression and
description of the curriculum (modules, units and qualifications)
and levels, cycles, subject/sectoral statements and the ‘new
style’ Bologna qualifications frameworks.
Multiple definitions exist but all are fairly similar …
‘Learning outcomes are statements of what a learner is
expected to know, understand and be able to
demonstrate at the end of a learning experience.’
They can be highly complex or very simple!
2. Learning outcomes are the basic building blocks of
the Bologna education reform
• Provide a clear focus on what students achieve
• Lead to better qualifications and an improved
student experience
London Communiqué (18 May 2007) Towards the
European Higher Education Area: responding to
challenges in a globalised world
‘Efforts should concentrate in future on removing barriers to access and
progression between cycles and on proper implementation of ECTS based on
learning outcomes and student workload.’
‘Qualifications frameworks are important instruments in achieving comparability
and transparency within the EHEA and facilitating the movement of learners
within, as well as between, higher education systems. They should also help HEIs
to develop modules and study programmes based on learning outcomes and credits,
and improve the recognition of qualifications as well as all forms of prior learning.’
‘We urge institutions to further develop partnerships and cooperation with
employers in the ongoing process of curriculum innovation based on learning
outcomes.’
‘With a view to the development of more student-centred, outcome-based learning,
the next exercise should also address in an integrated way national qualifications
frameworks, learning outcomes and credits, lifelong learning, and the recognition
of prior learning.’
3. Why use learning outcomes?
• Embody a common desire for more precision + skills and
competences
• Focus on achievements and not teachers’ ‘aims’ or hopes
• Can be written for the module or programme of learning
(flexible)
• Employ active verbs (see Bloom’s taxonomy)
• Improves the teaching-learning-assessment relationship
Learning outcomes are often expressed thus:
‘On the successful completion of this
module/qualification/lecture students
will be able to…’
4. How can learning outcomes aid educational reform?
Learning outcomes can:
• Contribute to student-centred learning (focus on the learner not the teacher);
• Overcome some problems associated with traditional input-focused
ways of expressing the curriculum;
• Have a positive impact on the teaching-learning-assessment
relationship and thus benefit the curriculum design (module + course);
• Aid quality assurance and standards (way to express external reference points);
• Benefit learners and employers – focus on progression, skills and
knowledge;
• Provide (with credits) a ‘common currency’ that links vocational
education, training and academic education and facilitates integrated
lifelong learning frameworks;
• Help national and international progression, transparency and
recognition;
• Link to all Bologna Action Lines.
5. Levels of application: learning outcomes have profound
implications …
•
Institutional/local level:
For the module, the curriculum, the qualification + teaching,
learning and assessment.
•
National:
For the expression of national qualifications frameworks
(NQF), levels, qualifications descriptors and quality
assurance purposes (external reference points) .
•
International:
For developing the EHEA + EQF + tools used to express them
- cycles and level descriptors. For a massive increase in
transparency, mobility and recognition.
6. Towards a typology of learning outcomes and their
multiple applications
MODE AND AREA OF
APPLICATION
MODULE:
(learning outcomes employed at the
level of the unit or module as
statements that identify what a
successful learner will be able to
know, understand and / or be able
to do)
FEATURES AND ATTRIBUTES
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ASSESSMENT AND
GRADING CRITERIA
(at the level of the module, learning
outcomes can be used to express
the criteria that establish the
standard of achievement and the
relative performance of individuals )
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UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL
QUALIFICATION
DESCRIPTORS
(learning outcomes used for
describing and expressing
individual subject-specific
qualifications validated / accredited
by a Higher Education Institution)
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Concerned with the achievements of the learner.
Differ from ‘aims’ that indicate the intentions of the teacher.
Directly link to a teaching strategy for the effective delivery
of the learning outcomes.
Directly link to an assessment strategy and appropriate
assessment criteria.
Are developed in a context of a wide range of internal and
external reference points and influences.
Assessment criteria are the description of what the learner is
expected to do to demonstrate that the learning outcome
has been achieved. These are normally written at threshold
level and distinguish the pass and fail threshold.
Grading criteria refer to the precise quality of the
achievement of the outcome. They distinguish the relative
performance of each student. Grading criteria are also
written as learning outcomes.
Written individually or collectively by academics and are
unique to a specific qualification and institution.
Include subject specific statements of skills, abilities and
understanding.
Can include general transferable / transversal skills that are
sought by employers.
Will be created within the context of the appropriate national
and / or international ‘external reference points’ and
qualifications frameworks.
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NATIONAL
QUALIFICATION
DESCRIPTORS
(learning outcomes as generic
descriptions of types of
qualifications)
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NATIONAL SUBJECT
BENCHMARK
STATEMENTS
(learning outcomes employed as
statements designed to make
explicit the general subject-specific
academic characteristics and
standards of programmes in the UK)
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Exemplify the generic (non-subject specific) outcomes of a
nationally recognised qualification
Produced by appropriate national authorities.
Will include statements of the wider abilities of a typical
holder of the qualification (transferable / transversal skills).
Linked to national level descriptors. A generic qualifications
descriptor can encompass several national level descriptors
to show progression or just typify one level.
Generally describe the learning achieved by a student at the
finish of a qualification (as do the international ‘Dublin
Descriptors’).
Act as an external reference point, for those at the
institutional level, developing individual qualifications.
Subject benchmark statements set out expectations about
standards of degrees in a range of subject areas. They
describe what gives a discipline its coherence and identity,
and define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of
the techniques and skills needed to develop understanding
in the subject.
These have been extensively developed in the UK by the
Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).
They function as subject-specific external reference points
for curriculum designers.
Internationally, the Tuning project explores the significance
of subject-specific and general competences. It has
encouraged detailed reflection on subject specific learning
outcomes associated with the first and second Bologna
cycles.
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NATIONAL LEVEL
DESCRIPTORS
(Learning outcomes employed as
generic statements that describe the
characteristics and context of
learning)
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CYCLE DESCRIPTORS
(Also known as the ‘Dublin
descriptors’ describe the three
cycles of the Bologna overarching
qualifications framework in terms of
learning outcomes)
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Designed to provide a shared understanding of each level
and to facilitate the comparisons to be made between
qualifications and learning at each level. A qualification will
often straddle several levels.
The number and complexity of national level descriptors is a
matter of national decision. They are often expressed in
terms of knowledge and understanding, cognitive skills,
practical applied skills, learner autonomy etc.
They can be expressed in terms of what the best student
might achieve (aspiration) or minimum standards (threshold)
or something in between.
Act as an external reference point for those developing
individual qualifications as well as modules and units.
Adopted by the 45 Bologna Process countries and used to
express the three cycles of the ‘framework for qualifications
of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)’.
Are composed of generic statements of the typical
expectations of achievement and abilities associated with
awards that represent the end of each of a Bologna cycle.
Function as meta-level international descriptors (guidance
tools) that act as an external reference point for those
developing ‘new style’ national qualifications frameworks
and national levels descriptors.
7. National qualifications frameworks and learning outcomes
• ‘New style’ National Qualifications Frameworks (NQF) and the
overarching Framework for Qualifications of the European
Higher Education Area (EHEA) are committed to employing
learning outcomes (see the London Communiqué)
• Qualifications frameworks use learning outcomes to express
levels and cycles and qualifications descriptors. Learning
outcomes are an essential part of ‘new style’ qualifications
frameworks and contribute to all the Bologna objectives.
• Learning outcomes and credits are not the universal panacea
for all educational problems facing higher education and they
certainly create distinct challenges that should not be
underestimated. However, it is arguable that it might not be
possible to have a meaningful European Higher Education Area
without their widespread and consistent use.
8.
Old versus new qualifications
• Problems with traditional qualifications (see the ‘Trends’ reports):
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long first study cycles + high dropout rates
little flexibility + not fit for purpose in 21st century
lack of recognition
failing to lead to employment
Professor-centred not student-centred (input not output focused)
• Advantages of ‘Bologna’ degrees based on learning outcomes:
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flexible, promoting mobility
allow more interaction with working life + transferable skills
help satisfy the labour market’s need for more higher education graduates
Share common standards + are more precise and measurable
facilitate better recognition + attractiveness of European higher education
Student-centred, output/outcome focused (paradigm shift)
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Student-centred learning
Teacher centred:
• Teachers serve as the centre of epistemological knowledge, directing
the learning process and controlling students' access to information
• Students are viewed as 'empty vessels’ and learning is viewed as an
additive process
• Instruction is geared for the 'average' student and everyone is forced to
progress at the same rate
Student centred:
• Students are not passive. They come with their own perceptual
frameworks (Erikson, 1984)
• Students learn in different ways (Briggs-Myers, 1980; Kolb, 1984)
• Learning is an active, dynamic process (Cross, 1991)
• Students construct their own meaning by talking, listening, writing,
reading, and reflecting on content, ideas, issues and concerns (Meyers
and Jones, 1993)
(Source: University of Bath)
An extreme teacher-centred approach!
Be quiet and
write down
everything I
say!
However…
• Both teacher and student-centred learning have a role.
• Student-centred learning (SCL) puts the focus of learning activity on the
learner and:
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the role of a teacher is to manage the learning;
recognises that much learning takes place outside the classroom;
students should be actively involved in the planning and management of their
own learning + take more responsibility for this.
• The move towards more student-centred learning leads to a focus on the
relationship between teaching, learning and assessment.
• Learning outcomes are the first logical step in moving towards student
centred-learning and impact at
module/pathway/course/national/international levels.
10. An improved curriculum development process using
learning outcomes
National &
International
Benchmarks
(Tuning)
Colleagues
+
Subject peers
at other HEI
Framework
for
Qualifications
of the EHEA
(Dublin)
National
Qualifications
Framework
(levels)
(Ministry)
NEW
QUALIFICATION
Employer
+ other
Stakeholder
input
Qualifications
Descriptors
(QA body)
Past
experience
+
Student
feedback
National +
International
Professional
Bodies
Bologna –
requires
the use of
internal
and
external
reference
points
11.The EHEA represents a coherent approach to HE - and
involves new ‘educational infrastructure’ using learning outcomes
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Common methodological approach + structural framework
External reference points + curricular reform
Transparent academic standards and processes
Emphasis on quality enhancement
Increased transparency and significance of quality assurance systems
– as a basis for trust and recognition
Transparency tools: Diploma Supplement, QF, clear standards, etc
Increased institutional autonomy and devolved responsibility + new
role for ‘authorities’
Application of learning outcomes for: modules, assessment & grading
criteria; individual qualification descriptors; generic qualifications
descriptors; subject benchmark/sectoral statements; level
descriptors; cycle descriptors
Student-centred approaches
Closer links between qualifications and employability + business and
universities
12.
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Learning outcomes and qualifications frameworks –
many challenges:
How to divide teaching curriculum content between Bachelor and Master levels,
balance general subjects versus specialised subjects and theory vs. practical
experience?
Whether to have a binary divide + vocational/academic split or have a genuine
framework for lifelong learning?
Decide the implications of adopting a 3/4 years first cycle and 1/2 years second cycle?
How to use credits and levels in the process of curricular reform?
How to ensure learning outcomes are developed and implemented (staff
development?)
How to prevent curricula becoming too rigid and compressed with less space for
creativity and innovation - too many units of former longer degrees crammed into
first-cycle programmes?
How to involve employers + all stakeholders in curriculum and qualifications
frameworks developments (what learning outcomes do they value?)
How to ensure all first cycle programmes address all four main purposes of higher
education (+ include appropriate learning outcomes for them)?
How to overcome academic resistance, inertia and lack of resources?
How to ensure real ‘bottom up’ academic reforms take place and old qualifications
are not just repackaged
13. FINAL THOUGHT…
Academic reform is a slow and difficult process!