欧洲学分转换与累积制度及其对我国学分银行建设的启示

欧洲学分转换与累积制度之所以能够发展和盛行起来,与其合理的设计和严密的组织执行有着密切的关系。学分、课业负荷量、等级是它的3个要素特征,同时作为制度主要载体的文件体系在其中也发挥了重要作用。学分银行在我国还处于试验初期,其大范围实行有赖于形成完善的制度体系,类似于银行存款和借贷手续、凭证,在凭证制度相对完善的情况下,以保证学分存储、借贷功能的实现。     

A generic method for distribution and transfer of ECTS and other norm-referenced grades within student cohorts

The ECTS grade transfer scale is an interface grade scale to help European universities, students and employers to understand the level of student achievement. Hence, the ECTS scale can be seen as an interface, transforming local scales to a common system where A–E denote passing grades. By definition, ECTS should distribute the passing students into five cohorts representing fixed percentiles. This paper presents a generic method to distribute cohorts of students with differentiated passing local grades into ECTS, or any other grading scale, cohorts. It takes into account historic student performance, the percentiles required for the scale in question as well as the relative performance of a student group in relation to student groups previously graded in the same course module. This method can handle any number of equally or unequally spaced local grade cohorts of any size, and it allows direct transfer between local grades in the spirit of ECTS.     

Of Cabbages and Key Skills: exploding the mythology of core transferable skills in post‐school education

abstract

The concepts of core, generic or key skills are now ubiquitous in educational discourse and an integral part of recommendations for education and training programmes from school to university. It is our contention that ‐‐ in the sense of free‐standing, context‐independent abilities ‐‐ such skills are without philosophical or empirical support and are entirely illusory. Although the ideas of integrated core units or common learning experiences underpinning the post‐school curriculum have some educational justification, the pursuit of general transferable core/key skills is a wasteful chimera‐hunt and should now be abandoned.     

Estimate of students’ workload and the impact of the evaluation system on students’ dedication to studying a subject in first-year engineering courses

In order to adapt current subjects to the ECTS credits system, it is necessary to estimate how much time a student has to invest in learning a subject. The Polytechnic Engineering School of the University of the Basque Country has made an initial study to investigate this matter in several subjects. A weekly questionnaire design was used for all the students in the class, supplemented, when necessary, by an individual interview, with student collaboration. The results indicate that the study rhythm and the number of hours are strongly conditioned by the evaluation system.     

Teaching applied genetics and molecular biology to agriculture engineers. Application of the European Credit Transfer System

We have been teaching applied molecular genetics to engineers and adapted the teaching methodology to the European Credit Transfer System. We teach core principles of genetics that are universal and form the conceptual basis of most molecular technologies. The course then teaches widely used techniques and finally shows how different techniques can be put together to solve specific technological problems from the environmental and food industry. Students from Spain, France, Turkey, and Poland have been able to understand and use simple scientific literature and propose experimental strategies as essays to tackle simple problems of technical interest.     

Review and redesign of the curriculum of a Masters programme in telecommunications engineering – Towards an outcome-based approach

This article presents the methodology and results of the curriculum review of the Masters of Science programme in Wireless Communications offered by the Telecommunications Engineering Department at Yarmouk University in Jordan. The review is based on expert opinion collected through questionnaires and meetings about the programme and focuses on two main aspects: the first is relevance of the programme to the needs of local and regional telecommunications industry and the second is comparability to similar programmes in the EU.

Through an extensive analysis of the collected data, a set of recommendations for improvement of the existing curriculum was developed. These recommendations were then used to redesign the curriculum with regard to contents, teaching methodology and assessment.     

欧洲和北美学分积累与转换系统的比较研究——以欧洲ECTS与加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省BCTS为例

学分积累和转换是实现学生自由流动、促进社会成员终身学习的重要途径。目前,世界范围内很多国家和地区都已经建立了较为成熟的学分积累和转换系统,这其中以欧洲和北美地区最为出色。研究者采用比较研究的方法,对欧洲和北美地区比较有代表性的学分积累和转换系统——欧洲的ECTS和加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的BCTS,进行了对比分析,希望通过对比二者的异同,为我国正在开展的学分银行建设提供借鉴。比较分析发现,欧洲和北美的学分积累和转换系统建立的目的都是为了实现学习成果互认、促进高等教育资源共享,促进终身学习,但在学分积累和转换的具体策略、应用范围、应用效果等方面存在差异。欧洲通过制定一般性的准则、采用一些有利于学习结果透明化的工具,来为学分的积累和转换提供支持;而北美采用了社区学院和大学之间签订课程认证协议的方式,这种方式更为明确具体。欧洲的学分积累和转换系统在应用范围上更为广泛,但北美的学分转换系统在应用效果上优于对方。     

对欧洲学分制的概述与反思

欧洲学分制(ECTS)即欧洲学分积累与转移系统,由课程单元、学习负荷量、学业水平和高等教育机构的标签等重要因素构成。欧洲学分制最突出的成就是促进了欧盟国家的学生流动,进而成为推动欧洲高等教育一体化进程的重要工具。但是这一制度的实施也不可避免地引发了众多的疑问和反思。     

欧洲学分体系中ECTS和ECVET的分析与启示

欧洲学分体系是世界范围内发展最早、试验较为成功的学分互认体系,对其进行深入分析与总结,可为我国远程教育领域学分互认体系建设的研究与实践提供有益参考。欧洲学分体系根据其应用范围,分为ECTS和ECVET两个系统。对两个系统深入分析和对比发现,两者虽然在定位、内容等方面存在差异,但其共同点在于都是欧洲学分体系的核心经验与成果,主要体现在:以学习者为中心,重视学习结果;围绕学习者终身学习需要,建立终身学习资格框架;重视质量保证,致力于提高机构之间质量的透明度和认可度。欧洲学分体系的经验成果对于我国学分互认体系建设的目的与内容、核心与难点、实施要点与保障措施等方面都有重要启示。     

New academics negotiating communities of practice: learning to swim with the big fish

Abstract

Student evaluations of teaching constitute a recurring theme for debate within the tertiary education literature particularly in relation to validity and reliability. My aim in this paper is to highlight the dependence of student evaluative capabilities on their own beliefs and assumptions about knowledge constituting ‘ways of knowing’, which will differ from one student to the next, and to advocate that this is taken into account when evaluations of teaching are analysed and interpreted. I begin by addressing the nature of the student evaluation process, its current perceived status in higher education and in relation to student expectations in the present consumerist culture from which universities are not exempt. I then go on to focus on cognitive development implicit in higher education, and consider its impact on student expectations and consequent evaluations. Finally, I suggest that promoting an understanding of changing and developing epistemic assumptions of students should be an essential component of the explicit curriculum to the benefit of both students and lecturing staff, and recommend the exploration of more qualitative approaches to student evaluation.