WORKSHOP 1: Curriculum development for the new grado bachelor’s degree
Coordination:
Nekane Balluerka. Professor of Behavioural Sciences Methodology. University of the Basque Country.
Itziar Alkorta. Vice-Rector for Quality and Innovation in Teaching. University of the Basque Country.
Date and time: Wednesday 31 june 2010, from 16.00h to 19.00h
WORKSHOP 2: The future evaluation of the new degrees: criteria, challenges and results.
Panel members:
Dr Zulima Fernández.
Director of the Spanish National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA).
Dr Josep Anton Ferré.
Director of the Catalan Agency for Quality (AQU).
Dr María José Sarro.
Associate Rector responsible for academic coordination at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Moderator:
Dr Miquel Martínez. Professor of Educational Theory at the University of Barcelona (UB).
Date and time: Thursday 1 july 2010, from 9.00 to 12.30h pm
WORKSHOP: Curriculum development for the new grado bachelor’s degree
Coordination:
Nekane Balluerka. Professor of Behavioural Sciences Methodology. University of the Basque Country.
Itziar Alkorta. Vice-Rector for Quality and Innovation in Teaching. University of the Basque Country.
Date and time: Wednesday 31 june 2010, from 16.00h to 19.00h
Summary
In the teaching-learning model proposed as part of European harmonisation, curriculum design is organised around three core areas: competences, tasks and assessment. The purpose of the curriculum is to develop students’ competences, so students must be set tasks that pursue this goal. Assessment of students should also focus on evaluating the extent to which they have acquired the proposed competences.
A review of the courses was carried out progressively at the different universities in Spain and found that most universities are now providing courses adapted to the requirements established in the framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), that is, courses with a new structure and a new curriculum. This is leading to substantial changes in the organisation of courses, especially where innovative teaching methodologies are being promoted by the higher education institution.
In this context, this workshop pursues the objective of promoting a profound reflection on the necessary conditions to undertake a real reform of the curriculum of the new EHEA-compliant bachelor’s degrees (grados). The experiences of several universities in achieving the aforementioned objective and providing high-quality training will be presented.
Specifically, the institutional reforms undertaken by the following universities will be presented: the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), the University of Mondragon (UM), the University of Zaragoza (UZ), Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). The programme presented by the University of the Basque Country, called EHUndu, aims to support curriculum development for the new bachelor’s degrees through a cooperative, dynamic teaching-learning model. The University of Mondragon will present the principles behind its teaching-learning model as well as the curriculum design and methodologies used for the different courses at the university, according to the professional profile of each course. The University of Zaragoza will focus on a system that assesses the quality of the university’s teaching-learning process and the appropriateness of its curriculum to the needs of future graduates. The UPF will present the institutional policy promoted by the Centre for Quality and Innovation in Teaching (CQUID), which aims to ensure that the new bachelor’s degrees adopt innovative teaching methodologies. Finally, the Open University of Catalonia will present the new online teaching model used for the implementation of the new bachelor’s degrees.
These experiences will be discussed by leading specialists in the field in a way that will encourage open debate on aspects such as the feasibility, the strengths and weaknesses, expected future developments, etc., of each programme or institutional experience presented at the workshop.
Presentations
1.- Curriculum development programme for the new bachelor’s degrees at the University of the Basque Country (EHUndu).
Speaker: Itziar Alkorta. Vice-Rector for Quality and Innovation in Teaching, University of the Basque Country.
Expert: Miquel Martínez. University of Barcelona.
2.- The experience of an education model designed by the university: Mendeberri.
Speaker: Marian Bilbatua. Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE), University of Mondragon
Expert: Idoia Fernandez. University of the Basque Country.
3.- Quality systems and the improvement of learning: The University of Zaragoza’s approach.
Speaker: Javier Paricio. Assistant Rector for Innovation in Teaching.
Expert: Maite Martínez. University of Barcelona.
4.- Pompeu Fabra University’s Programme for Educational Quality.
Speaker: Oriol Amat. Director of Pompeu Fabra University’s Centre for Quality and Innovation in Teaching.
Expert: Mario de Miguel. University of Oviedo.
5.- The UOC education model: development and perspectives. Open University of Catalonia (UOC).
Speaker: Begoña Gros. Vice-Rector for Innovation and Research. Director of the UOC Centre for Research and Innovation in E-Learning.
Expert: Vicente Carrasco. University of Alicante.
WORKSHOP: The future evaluation of the new degrees: criteria, challenges and results.
Date and time: Thursday 1 july 2010, from 9.00 to 12.30h pm
Panel members:
Dr Zulima Fernández.
Director of the Spanish National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA).
Dr Josep Anton Ferré.
Director of the Catalan Agency for Quality (AQU).
Dr María José Sarro.
Associate Rector responsible for academic coordination at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Moderator:
Dr Miquel Martínez. Professor of Educational Theory at the University of Barcelona (UB).
Resumen
From course verification to course accreditation
The assessment and improvement of the quality of teaching and the harmonisation process in the European Higher Education Area are two of the main reasons behind the significant changes that have been taking place in universities over the past decade. But we have also experienced a series of processes related to the verification of courses – processes which have partly finished – that have required great efforts from teachers and staff responsible for academic administration. The work has been done, and most universities have done a good job. Nevertheless, there is a certain tiredness of these processes and a sense that feedback from assessment agencies has not been optimal.
It is worth reflecting – in order to correct mistakes and improve – upon how the new teaching proposals were produced and upon the problems encountered in the verification processes by both the universities and the agencies. We need to plan ahead for future accreditation processes to avoid making the same mistakes. But for now it is essential to decide how to move forward in the review and accreditation process and how to ensure that formalities do not take up the time of teaching staff and that they enable us to focus our efforts on qualitative changes in teaching and learning in the new degrees.
Now is the time for what truly should be important and what we should manage with the highest possible quality: monitoring courses from the verification stage to the accreditation stage. We would like to analyse this area in its entirety, monitoring the courses while taking into account the interests of students, employers and society at large and the standards that should characterise university higher education.
For these reasons, CIDUI proposes the following questions, among others, for discussion in this workshop:
- What mistakes have been made in designing and verifying the new courses and what changes should be made to improve the assessment procedures?
- How can we make best use of the monitoring procedures to identify and disseminate good teaching practices?
- What systems would it be useful to establish to ensure that universities and agencies share the same criteria, even beyond formal and structural aspects?
- How should we approach courses that involve blended or distance learning?
- What is the institutional function and relevance of university course coordinators?
- Will we be capable of using the present circumstance to efficiently and effectively relate the monitoring and assessment of courses with the innovation and training of teachers according to the interests that must be met by the course?
The workshop will begin with a presentation of the subject by the moderator. Each member of the panel will then be invited to speak for no longer than 10 minutes. Next, those invited to sit in the VIP row – teachers and experts with experience in assessment processes and academic coordination – will participate in the debate. The debate will then be opened up to all participants at the workshop. Finally, the members of the panel will be invited to speak briefly again to close the session.
