Reforms of the pre-graduate curriculum for medical students: the Bologna process and beyond.

For several years, all five medical faculties of Switzerland have embarked on a reform of their training curricula for two reasons: first, according to a new federal act issued in 2006 by the administration of the confederation, faculties needed to meet international standards in terms of content and pedagogic approaches; second, all Swiss universities and thus all medical faculties had to adapt the structure of their curriculum to the frame and principles which govern the Bologna process. This process is the result of the Bologna Declaration of June 1999 which proposes and requires a series of reforms to make European Higher Education more compatible and comparable, more competitive and more attractive for Europeans students. The present paper reviews some of the results achieved in the field, focusing on several issues such as the shortage of physicians and primary care practitioners, the importance of public health, community medicine and medical humanities, and the implementation of new training approaches including e-learning and simulation. In the future, faculties should work on several specific challenges such as: students' mobility, the improvement of students' autonomy and critical thinking as well as their generic and specific skills and finally a reflection on how to improve the attractiveness of the academic career, for physicians of both sexes.

The use of ICT in the course “Photography” in university education. First results of a teaching innovation project at the University of Murcia

The new pedagogical framework arisen since the Bologna Declaration,the Prague Communiquéand the introduction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), encourages, significantly, the use of new Communication and Information Technology to evolve teaching methodologies. The different ways teachers relate to learners have undergone a staggering change from which educational initiatives have emerged. Many of them are based on contents’ democratization through the use of ICT. The current article is intended to show the results obtained until the 2012/2013 academic course, since the implementation of the teaching innovation project entitled “The use of ICT for the students’ autonomous learning in the university education of the course Photography. Elaboration of a virtual classroom and results’ analysis related to the acquisition of skills and competencies” that has been developed in the course called Draw with light: Photography, belonging to the Fine Arts Degree at the University of Murcia.

Avaliação em contextos de blended learning no ensino superior

The increasing complexity of the Information Society and the Bologna Declaration in the European context has led Higher Education (HE) institutions to revise their curricula courses, as far as the adoption of new strategies for teaching and learning as well as evaluation are concerned. It can also be emphasized that there has been a growing use of eLearning and of blended learning (bLearning) in HE, since these modes of training seem to be a very convenient option for lifelong learning. In this context, quality is taken as an essential goal in the development of the European Space for Education and Training, where HE institutions compete among themselves, and where evaluation is determinant as a promoter of this quality. Considering the problems summarized above, the research developed, based on four published scientific papers, intended to answer a set of research questions related to evaluation of bLearning contexts in HE. The study used diverse techniques and instruments (questionnaires, document analysis, and observation mediated technologies) spanning two methodological approaches: i) study of descriptive and exploratory nature and ii) case studies of bLearning modules. In the first approach an evaluation model for bLearning courses was developed, where we collected and analyzed, at a national level, the opinions of teachers with bLearning experience about the model dimensions. The case studies presented are post graduation curricular units, where bLearning teaching, learning and evaluation strategies were explored and evaluated, namely peer assessment. The main contributions of the first approach are: the process of questioning around the evaluation of bLearning courses, namely the quality assurance criteria for bLearning, as well as the model developed, providing a framework of theoretical, methodological and empirical elements that can be adapted in similar contexts. From the case studies emerged: the developed evaluation guidelines and the data collection instruments, in order to disseminate evaluation “best practices” that may be useful for other units in similar contexts. Regarding the recommendations about the evaluation of teaching of bLearning courses we emphasize: the use of versatile evaluation objects; the evaluation throughout the process and not just at the end; and the involvement of multiple evaluators, including students (whose feedback is essential to monitor the quality of teaching and learning). From the case studies we highlight: the need for discussion of evaluation frameworks to explore, and consequent increase in the transparency of the evaluation process; the increased interaction between groups; and the peer assessment as a strategy to promote active and autonomous learning. In addition to the contributions and recommendations for practice and research in the area of evaluation in bLearning contexts in HE, listed above, it also emerged from this study useful guidelines regarding educational evaluation in bLearning contexts, in order to improve the quality of teaching, learning and evaluation in such contexts.

Rede social académica

O processo de Bolonha apresenta directivas para a construção de um espaço europeu de ensino superior. A adopção destas directivas requer uma abordagem que favoreça, na prática, a mobilidade dos estudantes que têm dificuldades em compreenderem as oportunidades que lhes são oferecidas. Neste contexto, esta dissertação explora a hipótese de utilização de uma rede social para apoiar a mobilidade de estudantes no espaço europeu. No âmbito desta dissertação propõe-se um modelo de conhecimento para representar os membros de uma rede social vocacionada para apoiar cenários de mobilidade, designada por rede social académica. Este modelo foi obtido pela fusão da ontologia Academic Ontology to Support the Bologna Mobility Process com a ontologia Friend of a Friend Ontology. Para efeitos de avaliação experimental, foi criado um demonstrador numa rede social disponível publicamente na Internet que utiliza uma versão simplificada do modelo proposto. Os cenários usados nas experiências representam situações reais às quais foi aplicado um processo rudimentar de descoberta de conhecimento

Students' choice of a master in management in Portugal: A means-end chain approach

In the increasingly competitive market of higher education introduced by the Bologna Declaration, understanding the decision-making of master in management students is at the center of institutional management and marketing efforts on its mission to attract prospective students in a less costly, more efficient manner. The means-end chain approach, applied to the choice of a Portuguese institution in which to pursue a master in management, points to the position in rankings and to the non-specificity of the program as the most important attributes. Additionally, results show that students with distinct demographic, household, or background characteristics choose in significantly different manners.

Las bibliotecas universitarias brasileñas y el modelo español de centro de recursos para el aprendizaje e investigacion (CRAIs) : algunas reflexiones.

En el siglo XXI, las bibliotecas buscaron formas para revitalizarse en su misión de transmitir el conocimiento, respondiendo a los cambiaos que afectan el ambiente universitario en el mundo entero. En Europa, el establecimiento del 'Ambiente Europeo de Enseñanza Superior', por la Declaración de Bologna (1999), tuvo como consecuencia la proposición de un nuevo modelo de unidad de información: Centros de Recursos para el Aprendizaje e Investigación (CRAI). El modelo se basa en la interacción entre docentes y alumnos con los recursos de información, creando un ambiente virtual de aprendizaje. La propuesta del CRAI puede representar una alternativa viable para el desarrollo de las bibliotecas universitarias brasileñas. En este sentido, se proponen algunas reflexiones basadas en la contraposición de este modelo a la realidad de las universidades brasileñas.

The history of technology in education. A comparative study and forecast

Area, launched in 1999 with the Bologna Declaration, has bestowed such a magnitude and unprecedented agility to the transformation process undertaken by European universities. However, the change has been more profound and drastic with regards to the use of new technologies both inside and outside the classroom. This article focuses on the study and analysis of the technology’s history within the university education and its impact on teachers, students and teaching methods. All the elements that have been significant and innovative throughout the history inside the teaching process have been analyzed, from the use of blackboard and chalk during lectures, the use of slide projectors and transparent slides, to the use of electronic whiteboards and Internet nowadays. The study is complemented with two types of surveys that have been performed among teachers and students during the school years 1999 - 2011 in the School of Civil Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The pros and cons of each of the techniques and methodologies used in the learning process over the last decades are described, unfolding how they have affected the teacher, who has evolved from writing on a whiteboard to project onto a screen, the student, who has evolved from taking handwritten notes to download information or search the Internet, and the educational process, that has evolved from the lecture to acollaborative learning and project-based learning. It is unknown how the process of learning will evolve in the future, but we do know the consequences that some of the multimedia technologies are having on teachers, students and the learning process. It is our goal as teachers to keep ourselves up to date, in order to offer the student adequate technical content, while providing proper motivation through the use of new technologies. The study provides a forecast in the evolution of multimedia within the classroom and the renewal of the education process, which in our view, will set the basis for future learning process within the context of this new interactive era.

Active learning and generic competences in an operating systems course

The Bologna Declaration and the implementation of the European Higher Education Area are promoting the use of active learning methodologies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects obtained after applying active learning methodologies to the achievement of generic competences as well as to the academic performance. This study has been carried out at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, where these methodologies have been applied to the Operating Systems I subject of the degree in Technical Engineering in Computer Systems. The fundamental hypothesis tested was whether the implementation of active learning methodologies (cooperative learning and problem based learning) favours the achievement of certain generic competences (‘teamwork’ and ‘planning and time management’) and also whether this fact improved the academic performance of our students. The original approach of this work consists in using psychometric tests to measure the degree of acquired student’s generic competences instead of using opinion surveys, as usual. Results indicated that active learning methodologies improve the academic performance when compared to the traditional lecture/discussion method, according to the success rate obtained. These methods seem to have as well an effect on the teamwork competence (the perception of the behaviour of the other members in the group) but not on the perception of each students’ behaviour. Active learning does not produce any significant change in the generic competence ‘planning and time management'.

Cooperative Learning vs. Project Base Learning.

The Bologna Declaration and the implementation of the European Higher Education Area are promoting the use of active learning methodologies such as cooperative learning and project based learning. This study was motivated by the comparison of the results obtained after applying Cooperative Learning (CL) and Project Based Learning (PBL) to a subject of Computer Engineering. The fundamental hypothesis tested was whether the academic success achieved by the students of the first years was higher when CL was applied than in those cases to which PBL was applied. A practical case, by means of which the effectiveness of CL and PBL are compared, is presented in this work. This study has been carried out at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, where these mechanisms have been applied to the Operating Systems I subject from the Technical Engineering in Computer Systems degree (OSIS) and to the same subject from the Technical Engineering in Computer Management degree (OSIM). Both subjects have the same syllabus, are taught in the same year and semester and share also formative objectives. From this study we can conclude that students¿ academic performance (regarding the grades given) is greater with PBL than with CL. To be more specific, the difference is between 0.5 and 1 point for the individual tests. For the group tests, this difference is between 2.5 and 3 points. Therefore, this study refutes the fundamental hypothesis formulated at the beginning. Some of the possible interpretations of these results are referred to in this study.

A holistic experience in the integrated learning of specialized English and content in Engineering degrees

This paper aims to outline a theory-based Content and Language Integrated Learning course and to establish the rationale for adopting a holistic approach to the teaching of languages in tertiary education. Our work focuses on the interdependence between Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in particular regarding the learning of English within the framework of Telecommunications Engineering. The study first analyses the diverse components of the instructional approach and the extent to which this approach interrelates with technologies within the context of what we have defined as a holistic experience, since it also aims to develop a set of generic competences or transferable skills. Second, an example of a course project framed in this holistic approach is described in order to exemplify the specific actions suggested for learner autonomy and CLIL. The approach provides both an adequate framework as well as the conditions needed to carry out a lifelong learning experience within our context, a Spanish School of Engineering. In addition to specialized language and content, the approach integrates the learning of skills and capacities required by the new plans that have been established following the Bologna Declaration in 1999.

Evolution and implementation of CDIO initiatives at ETSII-UPM

The School of Industrial Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSII-UPM) has been promoting student-centred teaching-learning activities, according to the aims of the Bologna Declaration, well before the official establishment of the European Area of Higher Education. Such student-centred teaching-learning experiences led us to the conviction that project based learning is rewarding, both for students and academics, and should be additionally promoted in our new engineering programmes, adapted to the Grade-Master structure. The level of commitment of our teachers with these activities is noteworthy, as the teaching innovation experiences carried out in the last ten years have led to the foundation of 17 Teaching Innovation Groups at ETSII-UPM, hence leading the ranking of teaching innovation among all UPM centres. Among interesting CDIO activities our students have taken part in especially complex projects, including the Formula Student, linked to the complete development of a competition car, and the Cybertech competition, aimed at the design, construction and operation of robots for different purposes. Additional project-based learning teamwork activities have been linked to toy design, to the development of medical devices, to the implementation of virtual laboratories, to the design of complete industrial installations and factories, among other activities detailed in present study. The implementation of Bologna process will culminate at ETSII-UPM with the beginning of the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, in academic year 2014-15. The program has been successfully approved by the Spanish Agency for Accreditation (ANECA), with the inclusion of a set of subjects based upon the CDIO methodology denominated generally “INGENIA”, linked to the Spanish “ingeniar” (to provide ingenious solutions), also related etymologically in Spanish with “ingeniero”, engineer. INGENIA students will live through the complete development process of a complex product or system and there will be different kind of projects covering most of the engineering majors at ETSII-UPM.

Productividad científica en España sobre las profesiones de comunicación entre 1971 y 2009

A la luz de la Convergencia Europea, los títulos de grado en comunicación elaborados en España están fundamentados en las competencias requeridas para el ejercicio de cada una de las profesiones. Es necesario, pues, analizar al profesional de la Publicidad y las Relaciones Públicas, del Periodismo y de la Comunicación Audiovisual. Este trabajo pretende conocer los estudios de investigación centrados en este tema. Realiza una revisión sistemática de los artículos, libros y tesis doctorales sobre las profesiones de comunicador desde la década de los setenta hasta 2009, en las bases de datos ISOC, ISBN y TESEO. Extrae indicadores bibliométricos y sigue los criterios de evaluación mantenidos por la CNEAI (Comisión Nacional Evaluadora de la Actividad Investigadora) y la ANECA (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación) para valorar las investigaciones. Los resultados muestran que es la firma del Plan Bolonia lo que parece iniciar un ciclo de atención hacia las profesiones de comunicación. Periodismo es la profesión más estudiada. La mayoría de los estudios no cumplen con los criterios de calidad de las agencias evaluadoras. En conjunto, se observa la necesidad de aumentar la cantidad y la calidad de las investigaciones para realizar planes de estudios «basados en evidencia», así como la pertinencia de fortalecer la formación de los investigadores en la metodología de la investigación social.

Graduate employability, 'soft skills' versus 'hard' business knowledge:a European study

There is a growing awareness in the UK and mainland Europe of the importance of higher education to the development of a knowledge-based economy. European universities are increasingly required to produce highly mobile graduates able to respond to the ever-changing needs of the contemporary workplace. Following the Bologna Declaration (19991. 19 June 1999 . “The European Higher Education Area” (Bologna Declaration), Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education, Bologna, higher education across Europe has expanded rapidly. This has resulted in questions being raised about the quality of the graduate labour market and the ability of graduates to meet the needs of employers. This paper analyses graduate and employer perspectives of graduate employability in four European countries (UK, Austria, Slovenia and Romania). In doing so it adds to current debates in this area.