Sybille Reichert AAC&U Conference, Washington D.C. 21 January 2010

1. How have the Bologna Reforms changed European Higher Education and promoted Student Centered Learning? Sybille Reichert AAC&U Conference, Washington D.C. 21 January 2010

2. Bologna Declaration (1999): Key Motivations • Insufficient ability to adapt to demands of massified HE • High-drop-out rates, • Long study duration • Insufficient attention to diverse needs and qualifications • High unemployment of HE graduates – employability? • Increasing participation rates  exploding cost? Bachelor sufficient for labour market entry? • Fragmented HE landscape with different degree structures and lengths, not readable  Lack of attractiveness • European Mobility had reached a threshold (with remaining widespread recognition problems) • European citizenship with sufficient intercultural competence and European identification? • Build common market for European graduates and researchers

3. The European Higher Education Area: A Vision • Increase the readability of the degree structures and their contents to help mutual recognition and mobility (inter-cultural competences in a global world) • Increase the flexibility of learning paths to take account of diverse student profiles and needs • Move from teacher-centered to student-centered perspectives in teaching and curricular design: structured around student qualifications and learning outcomes • Enhance quality development and assurance and trust among the agencies / systems to allow for mutual recognition • Create a common market of European graduates (incl. PhDs) for more effective, more competitive, more cooperative and international, globally responsive knowledge economies

4. The Bologna pan-European Reform Process A voluntary process:Inter-Governmental process without contractual commitment & but dense sector-driven follow-up process -- policy development through soft norms; compliance through peer pressure helped by National Reports & “Stocktaking” 46 countries signed up Reforms at national and institutional level, linked with other national and European reform agendas Shared responsibility: governments, universities, staff & students (Bologna Follow-Up Group, national implem.) Every 2 years: Joint Ministerial Meeting & Communiqué …4… …4… …4…

5. Bologna Action Lines: The Agenda 1. Adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees, based on two cycles, to be supported by European and National Qualification Frameworks (since 2005) 2. Establishment of a system of credits (ECTS) 3. Promotion of mobility 4. Promotion of European co-operation in quality assurance, 2005:formulation of European standards and guidelines for internal and external QA (for HE institutions and agencies), 2008: launch of European register of recognised QA or accreditation agencies 5. Promotion of the European dimension in higher education 6. Promotion of lifelong learning (since 2001) 7. Social dimension of HE (HE as public responsibility, widening access, scholarships) and student participation 8. External dimension of Bologna Process 9. Doctoral studies (since 2003) linking higher education and research (also part of European research reforms (Lisbon Agenda) …5… …5…

6. Moving to Student-centered Education and „Flexible Learning Paths“ • Learning outcome descriptions (in terms of knowledge competences and skills) at all levels: • ECTS course descriptions • programme descriptions • national level descriptors in National Qualifications Frameworks • European Qualifications Frameworks • ECTS as work-load based credit accumulation system • Transparent Recognition Procedures (Lisbon Convention) – non-recognition has to be justified in terms of substantial difference of qualification

7. Different levels for learning outcomes European, generic Dublin Descriptors (3 levels) National, generic National descriptors Institutional, detailed Qualification descriptors Programme – module descriptors - ECTS Assessment criteria …7…

8. Moving to Student-centered Education and „Flexible Learning Paths“ • Reform of teaching methodologies • Expansion of student counselling and information support services • More attention to diverse student needs in QA processes, incl. student participation in quality assurance • More choices to combine Bachelors and Masters of different orientations (tracks, major/minor combinations) • Institutional attention to employability at all levels (incl. doctoral) • Smoother transitions / transparent recognition between institutions of different types • Expansion of accreditation of prior learning/ experience

9. Building Blocks of the European Qualifications Framework for EHEA EQF-EHEA Cycles Learning Outcomes (Dublin Descriptors) ECTS Credits Aims: Transparency, Flexibility, Mobility …9…

10. Successful Introduction of 3 Cycle System? Source: EUA, Trends 2010 report Yes, but the depth of the reforms varies greatly between countries and institutions: student-centered teaching and increased flexibility of learning paths are still lacking and are often being introduced as a second step rather than as a structuring principle of curricular reform!

11. ?% …11… …11…

12. Learning Outcomes at more than 80% Higher Education Institutions

13. 69% HEI have modularised their programs

14. ?% …14… …14…

15. Important Successes of the Bologna Reforms • More exchange and dialogue with external stakeholders on expectations and competences – attention to employability • More (but still insufficient) attention to student-centered education, student services, counselling and tutoring opportunities, transition paths between institutions Greater flexibility of student learning paths • Strengthened curricular and institutional coherence • Much more attention to robust internal and external quality assurance, common methodology, incl. more international benchmarking of institutional offer and developments • Greater institutional autonomy in many European countries • More institutional “positioning” (internationally attractive master programmes and graduate schools, consortia, marketing)

16. Opportunities for the US • Longer experience with student-centered teaching and learning (no mentality change needed) and with definition of learning outcomes • Culture/heritage of flexibility, positive encouragement and upward social mobility: Long tradition of facilitating transitions • Easier to develop appropriate assessment and recognition methods • Easier to develop meaningful and reliable competence profiles of programmes • Easier communication between institutions across the country (common language, common heritage) • Easier to develop modalities which facilitate mobility between programmes, institutions, states, incl. mutual recognition and qualifications frameworks • Potential to develop a more permeable socially inclusive system, with more opportunity for upward mobility • Threat: increasing financial and social stratification?

17. The Bologna Process What U.S. Higher Education Has to Learn from the Bologna Process And Why It Matters For Our Students That We Learn It

18. A Threat—or an Example?

19. Threat! • Europe wants to regain status as world’s premier higher educator • Europe wants to attract more of the world’s international students • Europe wants its students to enjoy a competitive advantage

20. Example! • Europe’s higher education priorities are ones largely shared in the U.S. • Europe’s approach is more systematic, coherent, urgent • Europe faces many of the impediments that stand in the way of U.S. reforms

21. Shared Pursuits (1)

22. Shared Pursuits (2)

23. Shared Pursuits (3)

24. Concerns for Bologna • Tight focus on higher education as engine for economic growth overlooks individual self-realization, expansion of knowledge, social stability • Many European nations practicing à la carte approach to implementation • Many employers not “buying” the new three-year baccalaureate • Mobility has increased only marginally • “Social dimension” receiving lip service

25. Concerns for U.S. • Tight focus on higher education as engine for economic growth overlooks individual self-realization, expansion of knowledge, social stability • From state to state, different reform priorities • Many employers dissatisfied with baccalaureate recipients • Mobility impeded by increased out-of-state tuitions, differing admissions standards, time-bound admissions practices • “Social dimension” undermined by recession

26. Implications? • Bologna Process pursuing reforms that are also U.S. priorities—but “braids” them into multi-faceted commitment within explicit time frame • Bologna accomplishments throw spotlight on U.S. issues • Reports on Bologna may prompt U.S. leaders to seek accelerated higher education reform

27. Challenges?

28. Challenges?

29. Student-Centeredinitiatives worth considering (1) • Create lucid national hierarchy of learning outcomes • Clarify, assure, articulate benefits of liberal arts education • Create common standard for accessible documentation of educational results • Enable students to provide more informative documentation of competences and accomplishments

30. Student-Centeredinitiatives worth considering (2) • Examine every paradigm: courses, terms, credit hours, grades, etc. • Lead in creating standard international nomenclature • Enhance mobility—across state lines and internationally • Enhance access—and make it meaningful • Celebrate, promote, embed diversity • Encourage progress through degrees

31. AAC&U January 21st 2010Tim Birtwistle

32. The Sequence 1.Where do we need to be? 2. How did we get where we are? • Key data on US Higher Education • Elements of the Bologna Process • “Tuning” and the US pilot project 3. What makes this work different? 5. Where might all of this lead?

33. Why Urgent LUMINA’S BIG GOAL: TO INCREASE THE % of AMERICANS WITH HIGH-QUALITY DEGREES AND CREDENTIALS LABOR MARKET WILL REQUIRE IT THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY IS THE FUTURE & KNOWLEDGE IS MAINTAINED THROUGH STUDENTS GLOBAL COMPETETIVENESS SIGNIFICANT EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM (& worldwide interest and acceptance)

34. Lessons from Data “Lies ************** and statistics” or imperfect but telling a story? Examples of data: OECD: Education at a Glance US Census and federal data College Board: Coming to Our Senses TIMSS: math & science (grades 4 & 8)‏ System and individual student achievement a concern. Caveats noted!

35. The United States is STUCK! Graduation rates for college students (OECD countries) Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.

36. Expenditures per student, 2004 Instructional and non-instructional Source: OECD 2007 Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.

37. H.E. Reform ………………….?

38. Tuning and Bologna Tuning: • was developed by FACULTY as a response to Bologna • has been “adopted by” Bologna and increasingly is “central to” Bologna (student centered, credits, learning outcomes, frameworks, lifelong learning) • establishes reference points for general competencies and active learning outcomes • celebrates diversity but recognizes the need for standard reference points and points of comparison • is a process – it continues, evolves, updates, adapts and engages faculty and students, leading to a common understanding of what students: - “know, understand and are able to do” - Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.

39. Tuning USA Pilot Details from 2009 • The Project (March-November): • 3 states – Utah, Minnesota, Indiana • 6 disciplines (biology, chemistry, education, graphic design, history, physics) • 20+ institutions (2 Year, 4 Year, Public/Private) Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.

40. Action to date • Faculty engagement } • Student engagement } + the 4-way • Alumni engagement } survey • Employer engagement } • Cross-sector engagement • National (press) and international interest (Australia, Bologna signatories, European Union) Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.

41. Think Global – Act Local

42. Examples of U.S. “Push back” • “Threat to academic freedom” • “We already do this” • “Not for the privates” • “Too much to do already” • “Impossible in such a diverse system” • “Credit transfer not a problem” • “The US is already No. 1” Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.

43. How Does Tuning Differ?(Lumina Foundation survey of state team leaders and faculty) Involves talking about student learning across different institutions (to get consistency among institutions) Creates meaningful relationships between faculty members from different institutions (talking to people from all sectors, share experience and ideas) Increases focus on general competencies – existing approaches mainly focus only on subject matter mastery Involves employers/alumni + faculty/students in thinking about what degrees represent Shifts focus from what’s taught to what students must learn Makes explicit the implicit expectations of previous work Ties the academic process to academic, workforce and societal expectations Led by faculty and a defense against accountability from above

44. Where are the boundaries? - Need to ratchet up from level to level (Verbs!) • Need to express where one level ends and the next begins in terms other than credit hours • Need to be able to navigate through the system • Need defined learning outcomes Doctoral Degree Master’s Degree Bachelor’s Degree Associate’s Degree

45. For more information Releasing system, institutional and personal potential – an experiment in borrowing methodology from the European Bologna Process Holiday Hart McKiernan Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, Lumina Tim Birtwistle Professor of the Law & Policy of Higher Education Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K. Please note there is a faculty-led session on the Tuning USA pilot at this conference. Web-resources: • www.luminafoundation.org/our_work/tuning/ • tuning.unideusto.org/tuningeu/ Speaker resources: Contact Lumina Foundation for Education