The International Consortium for Educational Development

The adoption of a European system of easily readable and comparable degrees is central to the Bologna Declaration (June 1999). It introduces the idea of a "common currency of qualifications" across the national borders in Europe. This comparability and readability of degrees could be provided by carefully and consistently defining what competences a graduate of a specific degree should have developed. As a consequence of the Bologna Declaration higher education institutions all over Europe are restructuring their degree programmes into Bachelor and Master programmes. In some European countries new laws are proposed (or already voted) to set up an accreditation system for the new degree programmes.

Many educational developers like to consider 'Bologna' as an excellent opportunity to bring about change and innovation in higher education. Faculties and departments are indeed urged to rethink their curricula so that they come in line with emerging European or international standards. Can 'Bologna' live up to the educational developers' expectations? Which conditions have to be met for bringing about real improvements in teaching and learning, and what does that imply for educational developers?

The CgHO conference brought together educational developers from Flanders and surrounding regions as well as other countries to describe and discuss what 'Bologna' brings about in their educational systems.

More information: http://www.ua.ac.be/main.asp?c=*ICED&n=3333&ct=000661

In April 2001, the first of a series of workshops was held, under the auspices of ICED, for Croatian university teachers and Universitas members. The aim of the workshops is to strengthen efforts for improving the quality of university teaching in Croatian higher education institutions. The idea for these workshops was initiated by Vesna Kovac (Universitas, Croatia) in discussion with Carole Baume (ICED Past-Chair) and Pat Rogers (ICED Chair) at the ICED Conference in Bielefeld in July 2000. The first cycle of workshops was facilitated by David Baume (SEDA, UK). Topics covered included: Effective Teaching for Active Learning, Methods for Assessing Learning, and Innovating in Teaching, Learning and Assessment. Universitas received a grant from the British Council to fund the workshops and David Baume generously volunteered his time. The workshops were held in the Rectory of the University of Rijeka and the event awoke great interest (and success) among the academic staff from the University of Rijeka. Plans are underway for the next cycle of workshops to be held in October 2001.

At her invitation, five members of the ICED Council collaborated with Carmen Vizcarro Guarch (RED-U), in designing and implementing a workshop for the Spanish network: Graham Gibbs (ICED Convenor), Owen Hicks (HERDSA, Australasia), Christopher Knapper (STLHE), Kirsten Lycke (PEDNETT, Norway) and Carla Nelissen (CgHO, Belgium). The workshop was designed to widen perceptions about how educational development units can operate, both in terms of strategies for bringing about change and in the particular tactics or methods that can be used. Pat Rogers (ICED Chair) attended the workshop to welcome participants. Approximately 30 developers and university teachers from across Spain attended the workshop which was held in Miraflores de la Sierra, near Madrid. By all accounts the workshop was highly successful in bringing people together from a range of institutions and in stimulating many ideas for collaboration and future development.