Learning outcomes based education

							national qualification framework and the
learning outcomes based education

                             Petar Bezinović
       University of Rijeka and Institute for Social Research in Zagreb



                        First Croatian Bologna Seminar:
    Quality of higher education and adjustment to employment requirements
             International Center for Education of Journalists – ICEJ
                            Opatija, 4 – 5 March 2005
Topics


1. A Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher
   Education Area (Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks)
2. Learning Outcomes Based Approach (OBE)
3. Croatian OBE initiatives
  THE BOLOGNA PROCESS
  Prague 2001, Berlin 2003, next stop Bergen 2005


Bologna Declaration (19 June 1999) involves six actions:
     1. A system of academic grades which are easy to read and compare
     2. A system based on two cycles
     3. A system of accumulation and transfer of credits (ECTS)
     4. Mobility of students, teachers and researchers
     5. Quality assurance
     6. The European dimension of higher education
The aim of the process – the higher education system converge towards a
   more transparent system – the different national systems would use a
   common framework
  Qualifications Framework: Berlin
  communiqué

• Ministers encourage the member States to elaborate a framework
  of comparable and compatible qualifications for their higher
  education systems ...
• Elaborate an overarching framework of qualifications for the
  European Higher Education Area.
• To make higher education systems more transparent and to
  enhance the quality of European higher education at institutional
  and national levels.
Basics

• Qualifications are national according to national legislation
• Qualifications are articulated/located in national qualifications
  frameworks
• The 40 national frameworks are linked together through an
  alignment to an overarching framework of the EHEA
National Qualifications Frameworks


Definition:
The single description at national level which is internationally understood
and through which all qualifications and other learning achievements in
higher education may be described and related to each other in a coherent
way and which defines the relationship between higher education
qualifications.
Qualifications are increasingly expressed in terms of what a student
is expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate on the
successful completion of the approved programme of learning.
Why overarching EHEA framework?


• International transparency
• International recognition of qualifications
• International mobility of learners and graduates
Compatibility between national and
the EHEA framework - some criteria

• The national framework for higher education qualifications and
  the body responsible for its development are designated by the
  national ministry with responsibility for higher education
• There is a clear and demonstrable link between the qualifications
  in the national framework and the cycle qualification descriptors
  of the European framework
• The national framework and its qualifications are demonstrably
  based on learning outcomes and the qualifications are linked to
  ECTS credits
•   ...
Descriptors of qualifications and learning
outcomes

 Dublin descriptors (generic) (Joint Quality Initiative, JQI)
      knowledge and understanding
      applying knowledge and understanding
      making judgements
      communication skills
      learning skills
 Not subject specific
Principle elements

•   Learning outcomes
•   Competences
•   Levels
•   Credits
•   Workload
•   Profile
What is Outcomes Based Education?

Outcomes Based Education focuses on student learning by:
• Using learning outcome statements to make explicit what
  the student is expected to be able to know, understand or
  do;
• Providing learning activities which will help the student to
  reach these outcomes;
• Assessing the extent to which the student meets these
  outcomes through the use of explicit assessment criteria.
What are learning outcomes?


Learning outcomes represent one of the essential building
  blocks for transparency within higher education systems
  and qualifications;
Learning outcomes have been defined above as:
  Statements of what a learner is expected to know,
  understand and/or be able to do at the end of a period of
  learning.
Importance of learning outcomes

Learning outcomes have applications in many locations:
(i) the individual higher education institution (for course
    units/modules and programmes of study);
(ii) nationally (for qualifications, qualifications frameworks
     and quality assurance regimes); and
(iii) internationally (for wider recognition and transparency
      purposes).
They are important for the understanding of qualifications in
   society, for example by learners and employers.
Outcomes Based Education
stages in the backward design process


              1
           LEARNING
          OUTCOMES -      ishodi
        DESIRED RESULTS




                                   2
                             ASSESSMENT –
                              ACCEPTABLE    provjera
                               EVIDENCE



                                                      3
                                                   LEARNING
                                                 EXPERIENCES
                                                     AND       kako?
                                                 INSTRUCTION
Implications of learning outcomes

Learning outcomes statements are typically characterised by the
 use of active verbs expressing knowledge, comprehension,
 application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, creation etc.
They have implications for qualifications, curriculum design,
 teaching, learning and assessment, as well as quality
 assurance.
Outcomes Based Education at the
Programme Level

• The graduate outcomes for a degree are clearly written statements
  about the knowledge, skills and attitudes of its graduates.
• Graduate outcomes are developed from a number of sources
  including professional accreditation bodies, employer groups, the
  university educational principles and the professional experience of
  staff teaching in the discipline.
• Graduate outcomes represent the subject matter, techniques, skills
  and attitudes of central importance to the chosen discipline(s).
• From these outcomes the curriculum of the course is constructed, the
  subdivision of structure into units is made, and the outcomes specific
  to each of the units are derived.
Dynamic Quality Assessment Cycle
The concept of competence
• Competence is defined as the ability to meet demands or carry
  out a task successfully, and consists of both cognitive and
  noncognitive dimensions.
  Definition ans selection of competencies: Theoretical and conceptual
  foundations (OECD - DeSeCo, 2002)



 The concept of key competences
• Competences that are important across multiple areas of life
  and that contribute to an overall successful life and a well-
  functioning society.
  Definition ans selection of competencies: Theoretical and conceptual
  foundations (OECD - DeSeCo, 2002)
The concept of competence
Recent initiatives in Croatia


• Outcomes based secondary school-leaving exams
• Development of national qualifications framework in vocational
  education according to Copenhagen declaration (Declaration of the
  European Ministers of Vocational Education and Training, and the European
  Commission, on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and
  training - The Copenhagen Declaration, November 2002)