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The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education - the Irish Experience

The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education - the Irish Experience. Denis McGrath Registrar Institution of Engineers of Ireland. Institution of Engineers of Ireland Established 1835, Charter 1877. Charter Amendment Act 1969 - CEng title protected by law

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The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education - the Irish Experience

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  1. The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education - the Irish Experience Denis McGrath Registrar Institution of Engineers of Ireland

  2. Institution of Engineers of Ireland Established 1835, Charter 1877 • Charter Amendment Act 1969 - CEng title protected by law • 17,000 members plus 4,500 student members • 5000 Chartered Engineers

  3. Institution of Engineers of Ireland Established 1835, Charter 1877 (Cont’d) • Only engineering professional body in Ireland • Functions include accreditation, registration, promotion of engineering, submission to government etc • 32 full-time staff including 4 Professional Engineers

  4. Engineering Education in Ireland From Grace

  5. Bologna Declaration - June 1999 (35 Signatories) • Prague Ministerial Summit - September 2001 • Berlin Ministerial Summit - September 2003 • Provisions of Bologna Declaration to be implemented by 2010

  6. Bologna Declaration -Goals- • Establishment of a Europe of knowledge • Creation of a European area of higher education to promote citizens’ mobility and employability and to attract students from outside Europe

  7. Bologna Declaration -Goals- (Cont’d) • Achievement of greater compatibility and comparability of the systems of higher education • Development of educational co-operation

  8. Existing Student Mobility Schemes Ministers believed that the ERASMUS, SOCRATES etc. schemes required extensive management to yield modest mobility results

  9. Mobility Mechanisms within the Bologna Declaration • Diploma Supplement • Two cycle structure for degrees • ECTS Credits System • European co-operation in quality assurance • Elimination of obstacles to student and teacher mobility etc

  10. The two-cycle degree structure was considered by the engineering community in Europe as meriting serious study and comment.

  11. European Engineering Community • SEFI - European Society for Engineering Education • FEANI - Federation of European National Engineering Associations • CESAER - Conference of European Schools for Advance Engineering Education and Research

  12. European Engineering Community (Cont’d) • CLUSTER - Consortium linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research • CLAIU - Liaison Committee of the Associations of University Graduate Engineers of the European Union

  13. Higher Education in Ireland Ireland, like the UK, already has a two-cycle higher education system in place i.e. Bachelor degrees and Master degrees.

  14. The IEI decided, however that the response of the European Engineering Community to the Bologna Declaration merited careful consideration, particularly in the context of the two cycle degree structure.

  15. Response of the Engineering Community “The option of 5-year integrated programmes (exceptionally 4-year) spanning the 1st and 2nd cycles and leading straight to a Master’s Degree in Engineering without the mandatory award of an intermediate professional degree at the end of the 1st cycle, should be maintained in addition to the two-cycle degree structure envisaged in the Bologna Declaration”.

  16. Response of FEANI All degrees listed in the FEANI Index to be classified as : First Cycle or Second Cycle and Applied or Theoretical

  17. Student Mobility Through Bologna Declaration • The Bachelor Degree is to be the mobility ‘hub’. Graduates should be able to enrol in their chosen Master Degree either at home or in another European university with reasonable transfer constraints. • The Structure should be attractive to students from the Far East who would choose Europe rather than the US as a study destination.

  18. Response Of Other European Countries • Germany and Italy changed laws to provide for 3+2 Bachelor/Master degree structure • Anecdotal evidence suggested that similar developments were taking place in other countries, particularly in Central Europe

  19. Convention Of European Universities - Salamanca - March 2001 Message to Prague Ministerial Summit (Sept 2001) “European higher education institutions reaffirm their support to the principles of the Bologna Declaration and their commitment to the creation of the European Higher Education Area by the end of the decade”.

  20. IEI Submission to Government Published as a discussion document and submitted to the Irish government in July 2001

  21. IEI Submission to Government • Analysed Bologna Declaration • Focussed on two-cycle degree structure • Described and evaluated options in response to views of European engineering community

  22. IEI Submission to Government -Options described- • Maintain the ‘status quo’ - Present structure compatible with Bologna Declaration • 5 year integrated Master and/or 3+2 Bachelor/Master

  23. IEI Submission to Government -Options described- (Cont’d) • Replace 3 year National Diploma with 3 year Bachelor Degree, transfer then to 2 year Master Degree • Maintain ‘status quo’ but in addition, offer a 3 year Bachelor degree

  24. The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education in Ireland IEI Seminar - November 2001 Speakers from CESAER, a German university, Irish university and an Irish Institute of Technology Attended by 70 engineering academics

  25. Policy Working Group established by our Accreditation Board in February 2002, to produce a focussed discussion document which would: • Analyse all the options available • Recommend the option considered best for Irish engineering education.

  26. “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Bologna Declaration in Engineering Education in Ireland” Published November 2002 Feedback sought from HE institutions and industry representative bodies by 28 March 2003

  27. OPTION 1 Four-year Bachelor Degree followed by one-year Master Degree (4+1) • Not favoured in the majority of European countries • Imbalance in distribution of years within a five year framework • Might (would) be classified with three-year Bachelor Degrees, especially in the FEANI Index

  28. OPTION 2 Five year integrated Master degree (5) • Does not meet two-cycle degree requirement • Has virtually unanimous support in the European engineering community

  29. OPTION 3 Three-year Bachelor of Engineering Science followed by one year leading to Bachelor of Engineering followed by one year leading to a Master Degree (3+1+1) • Broadly compatible with European model (5 years) and the US model (4 years) • Does not meet two-cycle degree requirement

  30. OPTION 3 (Cont’d) • 4 year degree might be classified with three year Bachelor degree, especially in the FEANI Index • Not proposed as a Bologna response in any other signatory country

  31. OPTION 4 Three-year Bachelor degree followed by two-year Master degree (3+2) • Accurately reflects provisions of the Bologna Declaration and the recommendations of the European engineering community • Being widely implemented in Engineering schools throughout Europe, in some cases, by legislation

  32. Structure Recommended by IEI ‘3+2’ • Two types of the three-year Bachelor degree - Scientific - Applied • Both meet educational standard for Associate Engineer (IEng in UK) • One Master degree type meets educational standard for Chartered Engineer (CEng)

  33. Bachelor Degree - Scientific • Engineering and Sciences foundation needed for the two-year Master degree (as first three years of existing four year Bachelor of Engineering.) • Enables graduates to move to Master degrees in Ireland and in other European countries.

  34. Bachelor Degree - Scientific (Cont’d) • May prepare graduates for employment provided above two criteria are in no way compromised. • Entry Standard as for existing four year Bachelor of Engineering degrees (Higher level Mathematics a requirement).

  35. Bachelor Degree - Applied • Prepares graduates for employment as engineering technologists. • Curriculum focus on engineering technology with supporting Mathematics/Sciences

  36. Bachelor Degree - Applied (Cont’d) • Entry standard as for any Bachelor degree (moderate level Mathematics required) • Transfer to Master degree dependent on satisfactory completion of bridging studies and high level of performance in Bachelor degree examination.

  37. ‘Two-year’ Master Degree Entry Standard • Bachelor Degree (Scientific) or • Bachelor Degree (Applied) together with - a high level of performance in the Bachelor Degree examination - satisfactory completion of a programme of bridging studies in Mathematics/Sciences (probably one semester)

  38. Responses Received The IEI ‘3+2’ Bachelor/Master degree structure was supported by • All 8 University faculties of engineering. • 5 of the 7 Schools of Engineering in Institutes of Technology which responded

  39. Concerns of Universities • 4 year Bachelor of Engineering degree would go - valid for admission to postgraduate study in US universities at present. • MEngSc by research under threat • “Why Change? Our main graduate market is the US not Europe!” • Funding

  40. Concerns of Institutes of Technology • Bridging Studies from Bachelor Degree (Applied) should be carried out over 1 month in Summer • An applied Master Degree?

  41. Future Strategy • Very wide consensus in the engineering academic community about the new ‘3+2’ structure for engineering education in Ireland • Next phase, win the case for funding from government so that the new structure will be fully operating by 2010?

  42. The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education - the Irish Experience Denis McGrath Registrar Institution of Engineers of Ireland

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