1. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY – ENTERPRISE COOPERATION NETWORK Socrates Erasmus Programme Project No: Ref. 134546 - LLP -1-2007-1- RO - ERASMUS - ENW PPS VALIDATION, ECTS, QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES Prof. Simona Lache Transilvania University of Brasov EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam

2. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam Topics QA approach: enterprise and university QA: concepts and principles Validation criteria for PPS – on the enterprises Validation of PPS – in the university QA procedures

3. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA approach: enterprise and university QA implementation in enterprises: unique standard related to quality management QA implementation in universities: –Different systems, depending on: the focus of the quality assessment: institutional / study programmes; the way it is done: ones / periodically; who does it: external / internal evaluation or both.

4. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA concepts and principles Present trend in Europe: centre of gravity should be gradually moved from quality control and quality assessment to quality enhancement Main principles: –Peer review process –Evidence based process –The centre of the process is the student and his/her training outcomes, according to the qualification framework and the attended study programme.

5. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA concepts and principles Standards for practical placement are predetermined and explicit levels of achievement that must be reached for a student within the practical placement training to be granted a qualification. Quality of practical placement is a way of describing the effectiveness of everything that is done or provided (the ‘training opportunities’) to ensure that the students have the best possible opportunity to meet the stated outcomes of their study programmes and the academic standards of the awards they are seeking – from the practical training point of view.

6. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA concepts and principles QA - bottom-up process The assessment is performed by quality assurance teams consisting of: –Academic staff –External evaluators may be a person from a company - different to the one in which the practical placement took place but that has cooperation agreement with the university, as well) –Students may be included in the team.

7. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam Validation criteria for PPS – on the enterprises Integration within the curriculum: the placement content is compatible with the study programme. It ensures the skills and competences foreseen in the syllabus of practical placement. E.g. –To apply the knowledge acquired in the University –To acquire new skills relevant to the student’s area of study –To confront the student with situations and problems of a professional nature environment –To analyze the conditions of the work environment –To analyze their own experience of immersion into the work environment Tutorship: the enterprise assigns a person responsible for the student(s) practical placement, to assist the student(s) during the whole process.

8. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam Validation criteria for PPS – on the enterprises Evaluation: the enterprise evaluates the student activity and validates the practical stage by issuing a certificate. Financial reward: the host organization may reward the student in a financial form, which may represent a plus of responsibility of both sides regarding the activity carried on during the practical placement. Contract: administrative rules and duties of each partner are defined in a tripartite placement agreement. Confidentiality rules of the company are respected.

9. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam Validation of PPS – in the university Validation of PPS by the enterprise: a certificate is delivered, based on the student activity report and the oral presentation of the work performed during the placement. Validation of PPS by the university: it is done after the student evaluation by a board of academics, that may involve the mentor and the tutor (or another representative of the enterprise). The practical activity is awarded with ECTS credits – according to the curriculum of the study programme, only if it is carried on in an enterprise acknowledged by the university (from the QA point of view).

10. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam Validation of PPS – in the university The student evaluation has to rely on qualified experts, taking into account at least some minimal methodological rules: –by defining a so-called system of reference (making explicit the elements checked in the evaluation); –by defining criteria giving credibility to the system of reference; –by measuring the value of criteria; –by drawing up a synthesis reporting understandable conclusions. Evaluation has a strong link with quality policy: all efforts which are made for evaluation may be considered as elements of a quality policy, which is quite often built around an evaluation procedure.

11. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA procedure Quality issues to be addressed –University institutional context –Enterprise context –Training staff: tutor in E/ mentor in U Tutoring Mentoring –Training process: legal framework, duration, content, curriculum, validation through ECTS – by the university –Students (Student Learning outcomes) –Training facilities

12. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA procedure Instruments for QA –feedback from students related to the training process, training staff (tutor/ mentor) –feedback from enterprise: the university curriculum for practical placement satisfy their needs, the results for student evaluation (may be consultative for the professor in allocating the credits and marks) –feedback from graduates: to which extent the PPS performed during university studies helped in getting a better job.

13. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QA procedure The Regional/ Local Reference Centre for practical placement is responsible for the quality assurance process. The reviewed enterprise with positive result is added to a database – available for the network of Reference Centres in Europe. The assessment is performed by quality assurance teams consisting of academic staff from different departments (but from the same domain or a close one); external evaluators and/or students may be included in the team. The external evaluator may be a person from another enterprise (that has cooperation agreement with the university and has passed the quality assessment process). The quality assurance process for practical placement of students obeys the general principles: peer review process; evidence based process; the centre of the process is the student and its training outcomes, according to the qualification framework and the attended study programme. The practical activity of students in Europe is developed under the provisions of the ‘Quality Commitment’ document.

14. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam QUALITY COMMITMENT For practical placement of students in Europe replicates the principles of the European Quality Charter for Mobility, Commitment statement of: –The sending higher education institution –The sending institution and host organisation jointly –The host organisation –The student

15. © 2008, Tod O' Dot Productions EUE-Net Meeting, 20-21 October 2008, Amsterdam Discussions… Thank you! slache@unitbv.ro