34th MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMITTEE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The 34th meeting of the Council of Europe Committee for Higher Education and Research was held in Strasbourg from 3 to 5 November 1976.

The main points raised in discussions were as follows:

• the current situation and trends in tertiary education;

• the recognition of degrees and diplomas;

• the future existence of the Committee for Higher Education and Research;

• the current situation and trends in university research;

• the teaching of human rights;

• mobility of higher education staff and students;

• the future programme of the Committee.

The information presented below concentrates on some of the above points.     

34th MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMITTEE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The 34th meeting of the Council of Europe Committee for Higher Education and Research was held in Strasbourg from 3 to 5 November 1976.

The main points raised in discussions were as follows:

• the current situation and trends in tertiary education;

• the recognition of degrees and diplomas;

• the future existence of the Committee for Higher Education and Research;

• the current situation and trends in university research;

• the teaching of human rights;

• mobility of higher education staff and students;

• the future programme of the Committee.

The information presented below concentrates on some of the above points.     

INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS ‐ THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE

The Annual Conference of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) entitled “The Changing Conditions within the Universities” was held from 1 to 4 November 1976 in Regina.

The meeting mainly concentrated on the following issues:

• participation of the AUCC in public policy on higher education and research

• problems facing the research community in Canada

• the status of women in universities

An important part of the conference was cax'ried out in the form of workshops which had the following themes:

• the problems of ahanging growth rates

• the nature and level of university research

• international aspects of university operations

• graduate education

• the future of the community of scholars

• the evaluation of performance in the university

• continuing education

The below article is based on papers presented at the meeting devoted to the international aspects of university operations in Canada.

The traditional role of universities throughout the world has always been to:

• safeguard and preserve knowledge

• impart and disseminate knowledge

• expand the frontiers of knowledge

To this list was recently added a fourth dimension, which, implicitely, has always existed, namely:

• to contribute to the cultural, social and economic development of society

     

INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS ‐ THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE

The Annual Conference of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) entitled “The Changing Conditions within the Universities” was held from 1 to 4 November 1976 in Regina.

The meeting mainly concentrated on the following issues:

• participation of the AUCC in public policy on higher education and research;

• problems facing the research community in Canada;

• the status of women in universities;

An important part of the conference was carried out in the form of workshops which had the following themes: ‐ the problems of changing growth rates;

• the nature and level of university research;

• international aspects of university operations;

• graduate education;

• the future of the community of scholars;

• the evaluation of performance in the university;

• continuing education.

The below article is based on papers presented at the meeting devoted to the international aspects of university operations in Canada.     

Cooperative Learning and Visual Organisers: Effects on Solving Mole Problems in High School Chemistry

Eighty‐seven high school students participated in the study in one of four conditions:

1. 1. Visual Organiser/Cooperative Learning

2. 2. Cooperative Learning only

3. 3. Visual Organiser only

4. 4. Teacher‐Directed

Students were taught how to use mole maps to assist them in solving single‐quantity and multiple‐quantity mole problems. A mole problem involves converting quantities of chemicals to moles, a unit of measurement used in Chemistry. Students took tests immediately after instruction and then took mid‐term examinations that included mole problems. Repeated measures analyses with post‐instruction test scores and the mid‐term scores for single and multiple‐quantity mole problems showed that student performance was significantly better immediately after instruction for both kinds of problems. Students who used visual organisers and cooperative learning outperformed students who experienced teacher‐directed instruction on single‐quantity mole problems and also on the immediate post‐instruction test of multiple‐quantity mole problems. Cooperative learning resulted in less decay in performance over time.     

Place et rôle des stages dans la formation initiale des enseignants en France

Preservice teacher education in France consists of:

subject oriented studies in a university,

recruitment by means of a state competitive examination which may be prepared in a university,

professional training in a training centre, including both subject oriented studies and practice periods in classrooms.

Preschool and primary teacher training includes two years at a university to obtain the required degree for competition and then two years in a college of education. Secondary level teacher training includes more years at a university as the level of competition is high. It takes at least three years to become a graduate, four years in the other case. But the preparation of the competition in itself requires more time for most people. When admitted to the competitive examination, the teacher has one year in a training centre.

This paper will present:

1. the legal basis, curricula, content, structure and aims of practical studies at the two levels (preschool‐primary/secondary levels);

2. the difference and convergence of thinking about practical studies at the two levels: the main principle seems to be that pedagogical and practice studies make up for a lack of theoretical knowledge, but that, consequently, they are not considered really useful for those who do have theoretical knowledge;

3. the difficulties of achieving the official objective concerning an integrated training with links between theoretical studies and practice periods,

4. an innovative approach to this problem by means of a case study which put into practice the hypothesis brought out in the research I have led at the INRP about primary school teacher training.

The organisational models and the place given to practice periods in the whole teacher education raise the problem of what is a professional teacher training and what is its aim.     

TELEVISION IN LABORATORY GUIDANCE: PRACTICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL BASES

At the University of Electro‐Communications instruction is given on fundamental electricity in accordance with the educational principles derived from the philosophy of ‘Zen’. On the technical side, CCTV interphones and other audio‐visual aids are employed. In particular, we have inaugurated a remote instruction method called ‘TV‐Interphone’, abbreviated to T.I. method, through which we give personal guidance to students in the conduct of their experiments. Data from the experiments are fed into a computer which was installed in the laboratory for control processing

Three courses are provided:

1. 1. Electrical Measurements and Characteristics of Analogue and Digital Circuits.

2. 2. Electrical Measurements and Characteristics of Advanced Analogue Circuits

3. 3. Design and Experiment

     

SELF‐CONFRONTATION THROUGH VIDEO‐PLAYBACK: A STUDY OF LECTURERs' REACTIONS

This paper reports a survey of higher education teachers' reactions to taking part in a project which involved them in being video‐recorded while lecturing. The nature of their reactions has importance in the context of using television to enable teachers in higher education to lecture more effectively.

Material is included on teachers' anticipations prior to being video‐recorded, and on their reactions after the session, which include their comments on personal presentation, on the anxiety of the experience and on their teaching.

The findings indicate that:

1. first reactions to viewing the playback often include comment upon aspects of personal presentation (appearance, voice)

2. relatively little comment is made about their teaching as such'(teachers may need a ‘language’ for describing and evaluating their teaching)

3. steps need to be taken by staff developers to act supportively to reduce anxieties

4. the recordings were thought by participating teachers to represent typical samples of their teaching.

Some 471 students of the teachers involved in the project completed a brief questionnaire and the largest single response supports the teachers' view that the recording was typical.     

FINLAND: REPORT ON THE REGIONAL EXPANSION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

In October 1974 a committee was appointed by the Finnish Ministry of Education, with the assignment of studying the necessity, prerequisites, and principles relating to a more balanced regional expansion of the higher education system in Finland.

The committee has recently presented its findings, which concentrate on the following issues:

• the distribution of higher education places between the regions of Finland;

• the regional effects of a unit of higher education;

• the regional distribution of the higher education system and the administrative decisions concerning regional development;

• principles informing the regional expansion of the higher education system;

• resources for the regional expansion of the higher education system.

The below information gives the main elements of the committee's report.     

THE CONTRIBUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN EUROPE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHANGING SOCIETIES ‐ CEPES ROUND TABLE

The aim of the CEPES Round Table on The Contribution of Higher Education in Europe to the Development of Changing Societies (Bucharest, 21‐23 September 1976) was to exchange ideas and experience on the role of higher education in Europe in view of the general changes in present‐day society, and also with regard to the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Co‐operation in Europe. The following eleven participants took part in the meeting:

• Professor György Adam (Hungary), Rector of Budapest University;

• Professor Gunnar Adler‐Karlsson (Sweden), Roskilde University;

• Professor Hélène Ahrweiler (France), President of the University of Paris I;

• Professor Johan Galtung (Norway), Director General of the Inter‐University Centre of Post‐Graduate Studies in Dubrovnik;

• Dr. Stefan Kwiatkowski (Poland), Deputy Director of the Institute of Science Policy and Higher Education in Warsaw;

• Professor Mircea Malita (Romania), Bucharest University,’ Counsellor to the President of the Socialist Republic of Romania;

• Professor Manfred Nast (GDR), Secretary to the Council of Higher Education Institutions of the German Democratic Republic;

• Professor James A. Perkins (USA), Chairman of the International Council for Educational Development (ICED);

• Professor Branko Pribicevic (Yugoslavia), Belgrade University;

• Professor Ludwig Raiser (FRG), President of the Standing Conference of Rectors and Vice‐chancellors of the European Universities (CRE);

Professor Yuri Zhdanov (USSR), Rector of Rostov University.

Also at the meeting were observers and representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Council of Europe, International Association of Universities (IAU), the European Cultural Foundation and Association des Universités Partiellement ou Entièrement de Langue Frangaise (AUPELF).

The meeting was opened by the Representative of the Director General of UNESCO, Mr. René Ochs, Director of the Division of Higher Education and of Training of Education Personnel.

H.E. Mrs. Suzana Gddea, Minister of Education and Learning of the Socialist Republic of Romania, addressed the meeting during the inaugural session on behalf of the Romanian Government.

We give below a summary of the discussions. This is not an official report of the meeting. (For further information on this meeting and its follow‐up see page 32 in this issue.)     

IAU SEMINAR IN ALEXANDRIA

The 4th International Association of Universities (IAU) Seminar took place in Alexandria (Arab Republic of Egypt) from 7 to 12 February 1977.

Discussions in the Seminar concentrated on the following themes:

• the structure of university teaching and research; their essential characteristics and innovations;

• the university and other forms of higher education; integrated and diversified systems.

Below we present some of the ideas discussed in the Seminar.     

HEIDELBERG: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IMPROVING UNIVERSITY TEACHING

The Second International Conference on Improving University Teaching, sponsored by the University of Maryland in co‐operation with Heidelberg University, was held in Heidelberg (Federal Republic of Germany) from 13 to 16 July 1976. Approximately 130 educators and administrators, from 23 countries, discussed a number of problems concerning university teaching which were presented under the following headings:

‐ facilitating student learning;

• educational technology;

• improving teacher performance;

• assessing teaching effectiveness.

We give below information on some of the issues covered during this conference. (For information on CEPES participation at this meeting see page 31 in this issue.)     

EDINBURGH: 14th SEMESTRIAL CONFERENCE OF CRE

The 14th Semestrial Conference of the Standing Conference of Rectors and Vice‐Chancellors of the European Universities (CRE) on “Social Relevance of the University” was held in Edinburgh from 21 to 22 April 1977.

The following three subjects constituted the main points of discussion:

• the concept of relevance with respect to undergraduate and postgraduate courses;

• the role of manpower planning in relation to university admissions and curricula;

• the responsibility of universities for training the professions, for the needs of industry and public service.

We give below the main elements of papers presented during the Conference on these themes. (For CEPES participation in this meeting please see page 27 in this issue.)     

Quality assurance in engineering education on a national and European scale

Activity 2 of project E4, “Quality Assessment and Transparency for Enhanced Mobility and Trans-European Recognition”, included the working group on “Quality Assurance in Engineering on a National and European Scale”. Its report can be found in Part 2 of Volume D, final report of the E4 Thematic Network (Firenze University Press 2003).

The Report of this Working Group is formed by three parts.

Chapter 2 explores the horizon of evaluation, and briefly summarizes evaluation mandate, focus and procedures in the light of quality and quality assurance, accreditation, responsibility, with particular reference to higher education.

Chapter 3 explores the ideas from a number of European evaluation models for higher education, and shows that their contents can be read in the frame of four fundamental “aspects” or “dimensions” of quality:

• –?Requirements, objectives

• –?Teaching, learning, assessment

• –?Learning resources

• –?Monitoring, analysis, improvement

Chapter 4 underlines that a Programme should be evaluated on the basis of its ability to put into effect a policy focusing—clearly and distinctly—on the external and internal efficacy of the learning process: specify worthwhile learning goals and enable most students to achieve the established objectives. The set of “aspects” examined in Chapter 3 is expanded into a minimum set of “factors”, that the Programme should address in a stable manner before it is submitted to an external evaluation.

In developing this activity, a selection of a few representative models was examined, bringing out the essential structure that they have in common. The reference documents can be found in the References section of this article.

What follows is extracted from the conclusions of Chapter 4.     

CRE CONFERENCE ON FOREIGN STUDENTS AND THEIR ACCESS TO UNIVERSITIES

The subject of the 12th Biannual Conference of the Standing Conference of Rectors and Vice‐Chancellors of European Universities (CRE) held on 8‐9 April 1976 in Munich, was “Foreign students and their access to universities”. The Conference analysed this theme on the basis of the following three papers:

• “Reflections on the Problem of Student Mobility in Europe” by Professor Dr. Hansgerd Schulte, President of the German Academic Exchange Service, Bonn

• “Reflections on Problems of Student Mobility from the Third World” by Professor Dr. Gerhard Grohs, Berlin

• “Mobility of Students and Mutual Recognition of Diplomas in the European Community” by Karl H. Massoth, Head of Division, Directorate‐General for Research, Science and Education, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels

Information on UNESCO's involvement with the subject of the Conference and on the objectives and activities of the UNESCO European Centre for Higher Education was given by its Director (see page 30).

We give below the main elements of the three above‐mentioned papers.     

Patterns of interaction between a mother and her Down's syndrome child: A single case ethological study

The study reports the analysis of a mother/child interaction sequence. Its focus is on the mother's teaching strategies. The child was presented with two tasks. The first task was new and not previously experienced by the child; the second task was one that had been experienced. The mother's teaching of the tasks was videotaped and analysed. The material was analysed according to ‘on task’ behaviours. The results indicated that:

1. (a) both the mother and child were able to maintain a continuous communication sequence;

2. (b) the mother structured both tasks, but structured the new task more, and allowed some flexibility in the old task;

3. (c) the language used by the mother was ‘restricted';

4. (d) in responding to her child's behaviour, the mother made more use of verbal cues and used fewer non‐verbal cues

     

WHAT COUNTS AS TEACHING?

AID — the acronym stands for Assessment for Instructional Development — is a behaviourally referenced class questionnaire developed by the author from a data base drawn from 12 institutions of HE (Polytechnics and Universities). It is intended to help the user locate

• objectives in their own progress towards which his students report they lack confidence

• teaching behaviours that seem to bear on these objectives

• changes of teaching strategy that may therefore help the students

AID is focussed on the individual class and subject discipline — it is not suitable for ‘accountability’ uses.

The paper describes the rationale for choosing a behaviourally referenced system (focussed on what teachers and students do or feel, and how often) rather than a ‘satisfaction scale’ (focussed on ‘do my students like me?'), and the way AID was developed from earlier, mainly North American behaviourally referenced systems, such as IDEA. Crucial changes in research methodology are explained and justified. The characteristics and capabilities of the developed system are then outlined, and how to use it is explained. Finally, illustrations are given of three typical uses of the system — a comparison of three elements in a part‐time course for use by the course team in a course review, and two analyses of particular teaching programmes for individual lecturers.     

Lernen an zwei Orten: das Problem des ‘Dualen System’ in der lehrerausbildung

On the basis of a study of the literature and of empirical research, the article puts forward suggestions for the improvement of teacher training programmes within a dual system.

A consecutive approach to training implies that a student spends a part of the training period in an educational institution and a part in a practical situation (i.e. on teaching practice). However, the consecutive system presents considerable problems in respect both of organisation and of the psychology of learning. Organisationally, there is the question of sequence to be faced, if the elements of theory and practice are to be brought together.

On the basis of a study of the literature of other forms of professional training, the following suggestions are made:

1. students’ activities in the school must re‐inforce their learning and be integrated with their work in the training institution;

2. their educational studies must support the acquisition of the competences needed by the teacher at the outset of his/her professional career;

3. attention must be paid to the learning needs and the potential of each student.

The article describes how a teacher training programme may follow these guidelines, leading to a ‘concurrent’ set of cycles bringing together elements of theory, practice and reflection upon practice, and in which a student may alternate between the academic institution and school practice.

After giving an overview of possible models of training the author focuses upon a specific example and provides a model of the institution‐practice link. What is important is that the learning style of the student be taken into account. Each student selects from four alternative programmes, namely: instructional variants, reflection variants, selfstudy variants, and practice variants. The contents of these four programmes are explained, and the learning outcomes of students from these differentiated programmes compared with those of students from undifferentiated, ‘normal’ programs. In summary, it is claimed that in the research project described there are positive indications for a theory‐practice link which gives students a choice of approaches and a better integration of their learning into the practical classroom situation.     

Using metacognitive strategies in teaching to facilitate understanding of light concepts among year 9 students

Background: Enhancing students’ metacognitive abilities will help to facilitate their understanding of science concepts.

Purpose: The study was designed to conduct and evaluate the effectiveness of a repertoire of interventions aimed at enhancing secondary school students’ metacognitive capabilities and their achievements in science.

Sample: A class of 35 Year 9 students participated in the study.

Design and methods: The study involved a pre-post design, conducted by the first author as part of the regular designated science programme in a class taught by him.

In order to enhance the students’ metacognitive capabilities, the first author employed clearly stated focused outcomes, engaging them in collaborative group work, reading scientific texts and using concept mapping techniques during classroom instruction. The data to evaluate the effectiveness of the metacognitive interventions were obtained from pre- and post-test results of two metacognitive questionnaires, the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire (MSpQ) and the Metacognitive Strategies Questionnaire (MStQ), and data from interviews. In addition, pre-test and post-test scores were used from a two-tier multiple-choice test on Light.

Results: The results showed gains in the MSpQ but not in the MStQ. However, the qualitative data from interviews suggested high metacognitive capabilities amongst the high- and average-achieving students at the end of the study. Students gains were also evident from the test scores in the Light test.

Conclusion: Although the quantitative data obtained from the Metacognitive Strategies Questionnaire did not show significant gains in the students’ metacognitive strategies, the qualitative data from interviews suggested positive perceptions of students’ metacognitive strategies amongst the high- and average-achieving students. Data from the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire showed that there were significant gains in the students’ perceptions of their metacognitive support implying that the majority of the students perceived that their learning environment was oriented towards the development of their metacognitive capabilities. The effect of the metacognitive interventions on students’ achievement in the Light test resulted in students displaying the correct declarative knowledge, but quite often they lacked the procedural knowledge by failing to explain their answers correctly.     

THE DECLARATION OF HELSINKI AND THE UNIVERSITIES OF EUROPE

The 13th Bi‐annual Conference of the Standing Conference of Rectors and Vice‐Chancellors of European Universities (CRE), held on 21‐22 October 1976 in Athens, discussed the problem of co‐operation between European universities in view of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The participants put more emphasis on the removal of obstacles to existing forms of links between universities than on seeking new ways of inter‐university co‐operation.

Two papers were presented during the conference:

• “Necessity and evolution in the European Scientific Community” by Professor Zygmunt Rybicki, Rector of Warsaw University;

• “Difficulties in European Inter‐University Co‐Operation” by Professor Jean Tuscoz, President of Nice University.

The Bureau of CRE prepared a report “The Declaration of Helsinki and the Universities in Europe”, on which the information below is based, It gives an idea of the present state of development of relations between universities in Eastern and Western Europe.