Accreditation of Prior Learning for Academic Studies Presidency Conference “Realising the European...

Accreditation of Prior Learning for Academic Studies

Presidency Conference “Realising the European Learning Area”

Munich, 4 – 5 June 2007

The Accreditation of Prior Learning in Germany

A Federal Project Initiative




Topics:

• The general situation in Germany regarding academic and vocational education

• Non-traditional students in Germany

• Why accredit prior learning?

• The German Federal Initiative Accreditation of Prior Learning for Academic Studies

• A case study: The study programme ‘Bachelor of Business Administration in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’,University of Oldenburg




The Situation in Germany

• Relatively few university graduates: Compared to other countries, e.g. within the OECD, the percentage of university graduates within the population is relatively low

• In international innovation scoring systems – e.g. the European TrendChart on Innovation – Germany ranks poorly regarding the availability of Science & Technology graduates

• Sophisticated vocational education system: The vocational education system has a long tradition in Germany, and provides high standards of education across a broad range of professions

• In Germany, graduates of the higher levels of the vocational education system (e.g. ‘Meister’, ‘Techniker’, ‘Fachwirte’) occupy positions regarded as adequate for academically educated staff (e.g. Bachelors of Engineering) elsewhere




7,18,8

19,5

8,55,6

3,3

7,2 7,19,2

17,6

6,4 6,8 7,76,4 6,2

3,55,3

6,4

AT DE ES FI FR IE IT LV NL PT UK(E/W)total female

0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0

Non-traditional Students (in % of all new students)

Source: Eurostudent




Problems (I)

• Regarding vocational education graduates: Despite the relatively high level of education, graduates of the vocational training system may find themselves in ‘dead ends’ regarding their careers

• e.g. ‘Meisters’ wanting to move up to higher levels of management might find this to be difficult or impossible without an academic degree

• Regarding companies/employers: Especially in areas requiring high levels of knowledge, and facing rapid changes in knowledge development (e.g. ‘High-tech’ domains) encounter difficulties in personnel development

• Traditional suppliers of higher-level and continuing vocational training are sometimes not able to provide the education required, while academic institutions do not offer these educational services




Problems (II)

• Regarding universities:

• At present: No high-priority actual problems requiring AP(E)L or other means to increase permeability for non-traditional students.Exception: Acquisition of external funds, but the (commercial) provision of educational services is not a strong part of German academic culture

• In the future: Increasing problems in recruiting students, especially in the technological departments, and at least in some types of universities/polytechnics

• Regarding society:

• The evident lack of permeability for graduates of the vocational education system into academic education violates objectives of educational policy

• This non-permeability also blocks pathways to develop the educational standard – knowledge and skills – of working people in Germany, the most important resource we have




Why accredit prior learning?

• Global objective: Improve the conditions for continuing, life-long competence developement:

- Maintain and develop competitiveness of the German national economy

- Maintain and develop opportunities for individual and professional development

- Prepare for demographic change

• Specific objectives of the initiative:

- Improvement of practically relevant permeability between vocational and academic education

- Accreditation and dynamisation of vocational competences

- Development of opportunities for recruiting and developing highly qualified personnel




Accompanying Research

Programme Agency

Regional development projectsfor the accreditation of prior learningfor academic studies

Accreditation of prior learningfor academic studies

Federal Ministryof Educationand Research

Board




Social andeducationalprofessions

Economic /managerialprofessions

ICTprofessions

Engineeringprofessions

(MEMS)




A

Learning Outcomes

B

Assessment of Equivalence

C

Accreditation Procedure

Conception / Design

Description of learning outcomes from academic studies, vocational education, and practical experience

Methodology to assess equivalence of outcomes across these learning environments

Design of concrete accreditation procedure at university / polytechnic

ImplementationWhich strategies and specific steps are necessary / probably

successful for the implementation of these three ‘building blocks’ in practice?

(Fitness for Practice)




Competence

Qualification

Knowledge

Source: John Erpenbeck, Presentation Berlin 7.4.06




Political hurdles:

• Federalism: Responsibilities for vocational and academic education divided between federal level and ‘Länder’

Historically developed structural hurdles between academic and vocational education:

• Lack of mutual interest

• Language barriers

• Lack of knowledge about the other sector




Hurdles on the university side:

• Fear of losing ‚monopoly‘ in academic education

• Lack of interest because of presently high number of students

• Education – especially continuing education – is not regarded as crucial for universities` reputation / ‘excellence’

• High demand of resources for study programme re-design (from traditional Diploma to Bachelor/Master)

• Low acceptance at accreditation agencies




Case study: North-Western Project Consortium

CvO Uni Oldenburg

ibe

University of Oldenburg

Uni Bremen /

ITB

University of Bremen

Arbeitnehmer-kammer Bremen

Employees´Chamber Bremen

IHK Ostfriesland und Papenburg

Chamber of Commerce

and Industry East Frisia / Papenburg

Oldenburgische IHK

Chamber of Commerce

and Industry Oldenburg

HK Bremen

Chamber of Crafts

Bremen

© Carl-von-Ossietzky-UniversityOldenburgWolfgang Müskens, 2007




Ways of Accreditation

individualised

Accreditation

generalised vs. individualised

generalised

Competences from experiential learning

Vocational education

certificates

Assessment of equivalencePortfolio

seit 3/2006 möglich

Complex taskAccreditation by

examination board





Everyone holding a specific certificate gets accreditation of modules

without any further examination.

University and vocational education institution assess equivalence of

learning outcomes once

Accreditation is guaranteed by university

Grundprinzipien


Generalised Accreditation




im Qualifikationsverbund Nord-West

Several vocational education certificates,

e.g. ‘Certified Business Administrator (CCI)’

BA „Business Administration in

SME“

University of Oldenburg


Study Courses and Certificates

Several vocational education certificates,

e.g. ‘Meister’

B.Sc. „Systems Engineering“

M.Sc. „Systems Engineering“

University of Bremen




Vocational education certificate

Study module (e.g. Production)

Assessment of equivalence

Experts assess,

• the content overlap between study module and certificate, and

• assess the EQF levels of the competences acquired in the study module and in the vocational education programme, respectively

Content domains

• Skills

• Knowledge

EQF-Level

• MLI (Module Level Indicator)

• Relation toEQF

• Several domains of competence

regarded


Generalised Accreditation




Competence

Knowledge

Module Level Indicator

Scope and Actuality

Critical appreciation

Interdisciplinarity

Skills

Problem Solving Skills

Relation to Practice

Autonomy

Communication

Awareness of ethical and social issues


Scales of the MLI




Scales of the MLI - Examples of Items

Knowledge


Scope and Actuality

Cirtical appreciation

Interdisciplinarity

„The module contains at least some in-depth knowledge on the actual state of research within the domain.“

„The module provides an awareness for the limits of the knowledge acquired.“

„The module contains interdisciplinary topics, requiring knowledge from different domains.“

Skills

Problem Solving Skills

Relation to Practice

„The learning objectives or examination questions require comprehensive cognitive of practical skills.“

„The module provides knowledge with immediate practical usability.“

© Carl-von-Ossietzky-University, Oldenburg, Wolfgang Müskens, 2007




Competence


Autonomy

Communication

Awareness of ethical and social issues

„The module contains learning objectives implying non-predictable changes.“

„The Learners have demonstrated their ability to communicate their understanding of the domain to other learners.“

„When solving problems, the learners take into account interests of others and show solidarity with people affected by the solutions.“

Scales of the MLI - Examples of Items





There are differences regarding the EQF levels between both

educational programmes

These differences – when comparing content-similar modules – are

minimal, always less than half a level-step

There is no reason to deny accreditation based on these findings


Comparison Certified Business Administrator (CCI) / - BA „Business Administration“





MLI-based Comparison of Competences(cost accounting)

KnowledgeCritical appreciationInterdisciplinarityProblem solvingPracticeAutonomySocial/ethical aspects

Bachelor programme Vocational programme





MLI-based Comparison of Competences(all modules / subjects)

KnowledgeCritical appreciationInterdisciplinarityProblem solvingPracticeAutonomySocial/ethical aspects

Bachelor programme Vocational programme




Ways of Accreditation

individualised

Accreditation

generalised vs. individualised

generalised

Competences from experiential learning

Vocational education

certificates

Assessment of equivalencePortfolio

seit 3/2006 möglich

Complex taskAccreditation by

examination board





Student delivers portfolio (evidence of experiential

learning)

Student solves complex task on her/his own (without supervision)

Lecturer assesses task based on competence-

oriented standards

Permission to take part in one ore more examinations

(one examination per module)

If successful: accreditation of credits for respective

module(sA

Student receives study material and a complex task for the respective

module(s)

Ablauf


Individualised Accreditation




EQF: Competence

• Leadership

• Management tasks in a team

• Responsibility

• Autonomy

Communicative competence

• Communication of ideas, problems, and solutions

• Methods (e.g. presentation)

• References

• Job descriptions

• Official documents

• ...

• Presentations

• Reports

• Written communication

• ...

EQF: Skills

• Solving complex skills

Practical skills

• Creativity and Innovation

• Presentation of three examples from professional experience


Portfolio




EQF: Knowledge

• Domain knowledge

• Critical appreciation

• Interdisciplinary knowledge

EQF: Skills

• Solving complex problems

• Practical skills

• Creativity and Innovation

• Using theory, models

• Critical use of theory, models

• Knowledge at ‘interfaces’ to other domains

• Application of domain-specific methods to the practical problem

• Application of models and theory to the practical problem


Complex Task




• Professional adequacy of solution

• Comprehensibility

Communicative Competence

• Communicate ideas, problems, solutions

• Taking people affected by the Problem / the solution into account

Social Competence

• Taking others into account


Complex Task





An entrepreneur as student




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