September 2012 IN THIS ISSUE FROM SEFI Vacancy at SEFI HQ 2 SEFI at the HRK Conference 3 SEFI at the BEST Presidents’ Meeting 2012 3 FROM MEMBERS Aalborg University 3 FROM PARTNERS Review for the First ENAEE conference 4 EUA report from the 7th European Quality Assurance Forum 4 FROM PROJECTS QUEECA Project Kick-off 5 FROM the EUROPEAN UNION Rethinking Education strategy 5 Study calls for stronger focus on IT and entrepreneurial skills in schools 6 Final EU patent deal could be in reach 6 EU-Africa research cooperation intensifies 7 FROM EUROPE European institutions 'must work together' in face of Asia's rise 8 Finland and South Korea top the Learning Curve 8 Nobel scientists appeal ahead of European Summit 9 From the Netherlands: Sijbolt Noorda succeeded by Karl Dittrich as CEO of VSNU 10 Future budget cuts and new Education Minister 10 FROM the REST of WORLD From the USA Open Doors 2012: International Student Enrollment Increased by 6 Percent 11 NAE Report 12 From Kenya New bill to regulate the higher education sector 13 Publications 13 Calendar 14 news@SEFI Issue 10 / 2012 November 2012 2 Engineering Education Fast Forward 1973 > 2013 >> www.sefi2013.com Deadline for submission of abstracts: March 15, 2013 Deadline for submission of papers: May 15, 2013 Early Registration Deadline: June 30, 2013 FROM SEFI Vacancy February-June 2013 We offer an internship in a well-established international organisation celebrating its 40th anniversary next September. We are based in Brussels and are in permanent contact with the major international organisation such as European Un- ion, UNESCO, Council of Europe etc. The intern will be in charge of the maintenance and development of the SEFI membership database (universities in 42 countries), including daily contacts with the members. He/she will also assist the Secretary General and the Communica- tion Officer in the organisation of international meetings and conferences/workshops, in the preparation of the news@sefi (monthly SEFI information bulletin and press review) and in the maintenance of the SEFI web site and social media (Facebook, Blog and LinkedIn). The intern will also be involved in the promotion activities of the bodies created by SEFI or in which SEFI is deeply in- volved such as ENAEE (www.enaee.eu) , IFEES (www.ifees.net) , IIDEA (www.iideainstitute.org) and EEDC (www.eedcouncil.eu) . Details about these activities are available on www.sefi.be Applications (CV and letter of motivation) need to be sent to Mrs. Françoise Côme, Secretary General SEFI, fran- [email protected] before January 15th 2013. Skype interviews will be organised in January/February. Further to an obvious interest for the European subjects, the international cooperation and the academic develop- ments, the intern will demonstrate a very good knowledge of English (written and spoken). Any other language is an asset. Assistance to find appropriate accommodation in a walking distance from the SEFI HQ, located in the center of the town, near to the EU institutions, will be provided. Financial allocation will be discussed during the interview. Françoise Côme SEFI Secretary General SEFI CALENDAR 2013 We invite you to contribute to the SEFI 2013 Calendar International Engineering Education Events 2013 Please send your upcoming event before the 10/01/2013 to [email protected] SEFI President at the HRK Conference in Berlin On 29-30 October 2012 an International Engineering Conference took place in Berlin, with as theme: “Attracting more students and educating well-trained engineers: sensible ways to advance the field of engineering education”. This event was organised in the context of the project NEXUS, by the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz in Germany. The introduction of modular bachelor’s and master’s degree courses as part of European academic reform is, in the area of engineering studies, almost complete. In the process, engineering studies departments and faculties have been suc- cessful in carrying the high quality of the traditional degree courses over into the new programmes of study. Neverthe- less, further academic development remains a challenge: Aligning teaching with the particular prior knowledge of the students, improving their academic success, and adjusting degree programmes to encompass the appropriate profes- sional competencies. This transformation in engineering education was discussed at the conference, along with various other issues, from both German and international perspectives. As president of SEFI I was asked to elaborate in a keynote speech on the changes in teaching and learning in the engi- neering sciences from an international perspective. I dwelled around the Europe 2020 objectives, the challenges of the Knowledge Triangle, the characteristics of the millennium student generation, and new trends in both technology and pedagogy. And I presented a couple of ‘provocative’ statements for further discussion: November 2012 3 1. Learning in a changing world? We went from learning to e-learning, m-learning, u-learning, learning 2.0,… and we are back to learning again. 2. Are we looking for a new type of universities? Distance teaching universities embrace face-to-face, synchronous learning activities, while traditional campus universities introduce more and more distance learning activities… 3. Crossing borders? The real, physical learning environment is merging together with the virtual, digital learning environment – the world, one global classroom 4. iLearning? Higher education is international, intercultural, intergenerational, interdisciplinary,… For sure, this discussion is not ended yet. More presentations were given by other SEFI members, like Prof. Mervyn Jones (Imperial College London), who ad- dressed ‘Engineering Attractiveness’, and Dr. Tony Marjoram (Former UNESCO / SEFI Honorary Member 2012), who spoke about ‘Engineering Education: the Need for Transformation and Innovation’. As well a panel Session chairedby Prof. Burkhard Alpers (SEFI Chairperson WG Mathematics / University of Aalen) on “Students’ prior knowledge in mathe- matics. Prof. Wim van Petegem President of SEFI KU Leuven SEFI present at BEST Presidents’ Meeting 2012 As a step further in the strong collaboration between the lowed by a full week of events during two organisations, SEFI has been invited to be present at which, over 180 participants from 93 Top European techni- the BEST Presidents' Meeting 2012, held in Timisoara, Ro- cal universities have discussed various essential issues for mania. It was the occasion for BEST partners and Local the organisation, presented and evaluated international Groups to learn more about SEFI, and the importance projects, and attended workshops and training sessions on given to the student involvement in SEFI, through a pres- various BEST-related topics. entation during the Round Table and a dedicated Work- shop. We shall also note the presence of Prof. José Carlos Quad- rado, President of IFEES and SEFI past Vice-President, who The BEST Presidents' Meeting is one of the biggest events offered an enlightening keynote, as well as a workshop on and one of the most important decision-making events in sustainability. BEST. It is an international assembly which gathers over 180 students from the best universities and engineering I had the pleasure to represent SEFI at this fruitful event, schools in Europe. These are the leaders of the organisa- and we hope that in future such cooperation with SEFI will tion's international management, its international teams be renewed. and of all the local BEST groups. The Official Opening Day took place on November 16th in Jacques SCHIBLER the National Theatre in the city centre of Timisoara, fol- SEFI communication officer FROM MEMBERS 4th International Research Symposium on Problem Based Learning in Collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in PBL in Aalborg University The 4th International Research Symposium on Problem Based Learning (IRSPBL2013) will be organized by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in Problem Based Learning. The UNESCO Chair, based at Aalborg University, aims to create a global society for researchers and academic staff working with PBL. The 4th Inter- national Research Symposium on PBL will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the 2–3 July 2013. A pre‐conference workshop will also be conducted on 1st July 2013. The 4th International Research Symposium on PBL aims to bring to- gether researchers studying all aspects of the learning process in problem‐based and project‐based learning, and those involved in the implementation of these approaches across the disciplines from all over the world. Research papers in PBL are welcomed from any level of education addressing one of the following themes: Approaches to PBL Cross disciplinary PBL The learning process (cognitive studies) Gender and diversity Evaluating practice – models and approaches Generating innovative and interdisciplinary kno- Theorising practice wledge and practices Management of change PBL for continuing professional development Learning spaces Curriculum design Teacher roles in PBL Assessment methods Learning technologies for PBL Case studies Student engagement with PBL PBL with large student groups Virtual PBL November 2012 4 All papers will be blind‐reviewed and accepted papers will be published on the symposium electronic proceeding, which will have an ISSN. Writers of selected papers will be given the opportunity to revise and extend the papers be- fore they are published in Jurnal Teknologi, a SCOPUS