The Bologna Process for U.S. Eyes: Re-learning Higher Education in the Age of Convergence Clifford Adelman, Senior Associate Institute for Higher Education Policy Produced with primary support of the Lumina Foundation for Education to the Global Performance Initiative of the Institute for Higher Education Policy April 2009 Acknowledgments, Disclaimer, Permission, and Citation In addition to our 80 European colleagues and six translators listed in Appendix A, whose contributions and assistance were of inestimable value, this essay was considerably improved from its original draft state by virtue of thoughtful comments, corrections, and proddings of three extraordinary reviewers: Johanna Witte of the Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning in Munich, Germany, Amélia Veiga of the Center for Research on Higher Education Policy and the University of Porto in Portugal, and Tim Birtwistle of the Leeds Metropolitan University, England. At IHEP, the author is grateful for the critical eye of Alisa F. Cunningham, vice president for research and programs, and the visual sense of Tia T. Gordon, guest director of communications. This essay was made possible through the generous support of the Lumina Foundation for Education. The analysis, opinions, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the positions, opinion, or policies of either the Lumina Foundation for Education or IHEP, nor should any such representation be inferred. As an electronic document, this essay is in the public domain, but authorization to reproduce it in printed form, in whole or in part, must be obtained from the Institute for Higher Education Policy, 1320 19th St. NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036, Attention: Vice President for Research. The citation should read: Adelman, C. 2009. The Bologna Process for U.S. Eyes: Re-learning Higher Education in the Age of Convergence. Washington, DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy. Location reference: www.ihep.org/Research/GlobalPerformance.cfm. -ii- CONTENTS Acknowledgments, Disclaimer, Permission, and Citation ii Figures and Tables vi Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in This Monograph vii Executive Summary viii I: A Tapestry of Change 1.0 Nature, Purpose and Origins of This Document 1 1.1 Bologna: What is it? Where did it Come From? 6 1.11 “Convergence”: Macroeconomics and Metaphor 7 1.12 The Pre-History of Bologna and its French Connection 9 1.2 The Organization of Bologna 15 1.3 Background for Judging What We Are Looking At 17 1.4 Degree Cycles and Other Factors of the Bologna Landscape 22 II: The Accountability Loop 2. The Core of Bologna, Line I: Qualification Frameworks 25 2.1 Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area 27 2.2 What Do National Qualifications Frameworks Look Like? 29 Ireland 31 Germany 34 Sweden 36 The Netherlands 37 France 39 Scotland—and the Rest of the UK 42 2.3 And What Do the Students Think of Qualification Frameworks? 45 2.4 Qualification Frameworks: Stepping Back 46 3. The Core of Bologna, Line II: Qualification Frameworks from the Ground-Up: 47 the “Tuning” model and its Analogues 3.1 “Thematic Networks” and Tuning 50 3.2 Subject-dependent Outcomes in the Tuning Model 51 3.3 Competences Across the Disciplines in the Tuning Model 54 -iii- 3.4 Problems in the Language of Subject Qualifications: Tuning in Practice 56 3.5 Discipline-based Benchmarking: A Prominent Analogue to Tuning 59 Accounting 59 History 61 3.6 Project Polifonia: Qualification Frameworks in the Conservatories 63 3.7 French Dossiers and UK Program Specifications: Not Exactly “Tuning” 65 4. The “Bologna-Code”: Learning Outcomes and Competences 67 4.1 The Centrality of the Verb 68 4.2 An Essential Grid 71 5. The Core of Bologna, Line III: The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation 73 System (ECTS) 5.1 Student Workload: Turning the Tables on the Assessment of What Goes 76 into Learning 5.2 Connecting Workload and Learning Outcomes Through Level Labels 82 and “Descriptors” 5.3 Credits and Curriculum Reform: Inevitable When the Currency is 86 Student-Centered 5.4 Another Credit System in the House: ECTS and ECVET 88 6. The Core of Bologna, Line IV: Closing the Loop with The Diploma Supplement 89 6.1 Form and Content of the Diploma Supplement 92 6.2 They Can Do It Better 96 6.3 Bologna and Lisbon Intersect Again: Diploma Supplement and Europass 99 7. Coda to the Accountability Loop: Quality Assurance 103 7.1 The Language Landscape: Just What is “Quality”? 106 7.2 Quality Culture 107 7.2 Accreditation and Its Registry 112 7.3 QA and Accreditation in the Disciplines: the Case of Engineering 114 III: Other Core Action Lines 8. The Core of Bologna, Line V: A Different Kind of Visit With Degree Cycles 118 8.1 Destinations of the First Degree Cycle: Labor Market and Master’s Degree 126 8.2 Degrees and Regulated Professions: The Case of Medicine 133 8.3 The Intersection of Degree Cycles and the “Social Dimension” of Bologna: 138 the Short-Cycle -iv- 8.31 The Irish Higher Certificate 140 8.32 Some ISCED Guidance 141 8.33 The French DUT and BTS 143 8.34 The Foundation Degree in the UK 145 8.35 The Netherlands’ Associate 147 9. The Social Dimension of Bologna: Providing Multiple Pathways 148 9.1 Part-time Status: An Intersection of Degree Cycles and the 151 “Social Dimension” of Bologna 9.2 Recognition of Prior Learning: The Potential Movement of Adults into 157 Degree Cycles 9.4 Stepping Back: the Social Dimension 163 9.5 e-Learning and the Social Dimension 166 10. The External Dimension: Bologna Faces the World 169 10.1 Bologna as Global Teacher 171 10.2 Internal European Mobility: a Move to the Master’s Level 174 IV: Reflections Beyond Bologna “Action Lines” 11. The Larger Language Landscape 179 12. Bologna 2020: What is Left to be Done? 183 13. What Should the U.S. Learn?: Epiphanies for Our Eyes 191 13.1 The Accountability Loop 191 13.2 Beyond the Accountability Loop: “Access and Success” 205 13.3 Summary of “Constructive Irritations” 210 References 212 Appendix A: Our European Colleagues; Our Translation Assistance 229 Appendix B: 2007 Status of Core Bologna Features and Enabling Legislation in 46 Countries. Click on www.ihep.org/assets/files/countrystatus2007.pdf Appendix C: Institutions from Which Diploma Supplements Were Received and 232 Examined -v- Figures and Tables Figures: Page 1. General Qualifications for Credentials in the European Higher Education Area: 28 Short Cycle, First Cycle, and Second Cycle 2. Recommended Steps and Authorities for National QF Development 30 3. Grid of Level Indicators from the Irish National Framework of Qualifications, 32 Levels 6, 7, and 8. 4. Award-Types and Their Descriptors for Levels 6, 7 and 8 of the Irish National 33 Framework of Qualifications 5. Excerpts from German National Qualifications Framework Distinguishing 35 Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree-level Knowledge and Competence 6. Dutch Qualifications Reference Points for Applied and Academic Degrees 39 7. Action Verbs Reflecting Student Performance Under Four Cognitive Operations 70 8. From Dublin Generic to Program Specific in Hospitality Management 71 9. Student Workload in Hypothetical Social Science Course 78 10. Selected Credit-Level Descriptors in the UK 84 11. Sample Blocks of a Self-Assessment of Five Skills in a Second Language 101 12. Sample of Guidelines for Academic Quality and Standards in Distributed 110 Education from the Quality Assurance Agency of the United Kingdom (2004) 13. Program Learning Outcomes Criteria for Accreditation in Engineering 116 14. Basic Descriptors for ISCED Levels 4 and 5 140 Tables 1. State and Stage of Diploma Supplements in Bologna Process Countries 92 2. Europass Volume for France, 2008 103 3. Second Cycle Destinations of 2002–03 German Bachelor’s Degree Recipients, 129 by Sector and Selected Bachelor’s Fields 4. Seven-Year Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates in Swedish Institutions of 154 Higher Education for Students Who Entered in 1997–98, by Enrollment Intensity -vi- Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in This Monograph AEC Association Europeene des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen BFUG Bologna Follow-up Group BMBF Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Germany) CHEPS Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (Netherlands) CIPES Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (Portugal) CNCP Commission Nationale de la Certification Professionnelle (France) DAAD Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (Germany) EC European Commission ECTS European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System EHEA European Higher Education Area ENIC European Network of Information Centers ENQA European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education EQF European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning ERASMUS European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students ESU European Students Union EWNI England, Wales, Northern Ireland HIS Hochschul Informations System (Germany) HRK Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (Germany) HsV National Agency for Higher Education (Sweden) IHE Institution of higher education IUT Institut Universitaire de Technologie (France) KMK Kultusministerkonferenz (Germany) MEN Ministére de l’Éducation Nationale Enseignement Supérieur et Recherche (FR) NARIC National Academic Recognition Information Center NQF National Qualifications Framework OCW Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (Netherlands) QAA Quality Assurance Agency (U.K.) QFEHEA Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area RNCP le Répertoire national des certifications