Impressions from evaluation exercises of engineering schools in France Jacques L Willems Em Prof Gent University

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems2 My experiences with evaluation : on the “other side”, as member of the institution to be evaluated : member of evaluation committees in “hogescholen” in Vlaanderen : NVAO: head of working group for transforming NAO to NVAO and setting up procedures (evaluation – accreditation) for Flemish part of NVAO

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems3 My experiences with evaluation : collaboration with CTI and ANECA for comparison and research into possibilities for harmonisation of criteria and procedures : evaluation of (technical) colleges in Belgian “Francophonia” 2009: NVAO-CTI evaluation of Belgian Royal Military Academy (KMS-ERM)

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems4 My experiences with evaluation From 2005 on : member of evaluation committees of engineering schools in France – On behalf of “CTI” (Commission des Titres d'Ingénieur) as well as “AERES” (Agence d'Évaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur) – Grandes Écoles and Instituts Nationaux Polytechniques (Paris, Nancy, Toulouse, Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand)

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems5 Some points of comparison of engineering schools France/Flanders Organisation higher education in France: –Universities –Grandes Écoles d'ingénieur –INP (Nancy, Toulouse, Grenoble, Bordeaux) – with strong identity of the member Écoles, with Écoles–membres and Écoles-rattachées –PRES (Pôle de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur) (most with the name Université !) –Belonging to different ministries (education, industry, communication, agriculture, defence,...)

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems6 Some points of comparison Organisation of research –CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) –UMR (Unité Mixte de Recherche) (most of them consisting of research groups in different institutions)

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems7 Some points of comparison Selection of students –Post-prépa: CCMP (concours commun Mines- Ponts), concours Centrale-Supélec, … –Post-bac: concours GEIPI, … –Complex acceptation procedure, taking into account the result in the “concours”, the preferences of institutions by the student, the available places for a particular “filière”,...

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems8 Some points of comparison Study program –In France in large majority there is an explicit separation of fundamental subjects (math, physics, chemistry,...) (Écoles préparatoires) and engineering subjects (École d'ingénieur), unlike present situation in Belgium –“Bachelor” no real intermediate point! (end of “Écoles préparatoires” after 2 years post-bac, like before in Belgium (“kandidatuur”)) - bachelor after 3 rd year

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems9 Some points of comparison Study program – Much less attention to interconnection between sujects and courses (system of “prerequisites” seems to be much less developed in France –“ingénieur” vs Master –Master vs Mastère!

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems10 Some points of comparison Interaction with industry and professional field: strong –½ up to 1 year of professional training (in most cases in industry) during the study –(extremely) many industrial lecturers –Master's project in most cases industrial project

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems11 Some points of comparison A lot of individual (or small group) projects during the study program Each student: “projet professionnel”: common core relatively limited Importance of “relations” (industry-schools; public authorities-schools; alumni-schools; students-alumni; … ) : “ons kent ons”

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems12 Some points of comparison Internationalisation, international experience and exchange –Language courses –Language requirements –Almost all students are required to have 6 months or more experience abroad –Many foreign students, not so strongly in an exchange program, but for several years (or the whole program), however strongly (too strongly?) related to “la francophonie”

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems13 Some points of comparison External quality assurance, evaluation- accreditation: complex! –CTI (Commission des Titres d’Ingénieur) –AERES (Agence pour l’évaluation de la recherche et de l’enseignement supérieur) Evaluation of Institutions Evaluation of research units Evaluation of study programs –Evaluation(s) by ministries, cours des comptes, …

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems14 Some points of comparison Integration in European “system”: rather poor integration – formal! –Bachelor Master system –Internal quality assurance –Course description –ECTS system –Transcript of records (supplément au diplôme - diploma-supplement)

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems15 Some points of comparison Integration in European “system”: – Being a (or “the”?) “godfather“ of the system (Sorbonne declaration), rather poor performance

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems16 Some conclusions France: More emphasis on professional training and professional contacts More emphasis on international experience Flanders (Belgium): More emphasis on academic education More emphasis on structure of study program More adapted to European system More transparent organisation

4 sept 2013Jacques Willems17 Conclusion : we may learn from each other