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Accreditation of Degree Programmes in Germany
Abstract
After long-lasting discussions about the international competitiveness of German students and the attractiveness of Germany for foreign students regarding the structure of German degree programmes, 3 years ago the 16 German Länder (the federal states) tentatively agreed to the establishment of a new course structure of Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes which will co-exist alongside the traditional course system. Moreover, the federal legislation has accepted accreditation as a new steering instrument in the approval procedures of new Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Germany. In 1999 the Joint Commission for the Co-ordination of Study and Examination Regulations of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder (KMK) and the Conference of Rectors and Presidents of Universities and Other Higher Education Institutions (HRK) appointed the Accreditation Council that operates nation-wide. Up to now (December, 2000), the Council has accredited three accreditation agencies owned by higher education institutions, scientific societies, or discipline-oriented foundations. The agencies take over the task of assessing and accrediting, acting in the framework of fixed and widely accepted procedures, criteria, and standards set by the Council. The implementation of accreditation procedures for new degree programmes within the traditional recognition procedures marks a fundamental shift in the relationship between higher education institutions and the state. This will offer further possibilities for the development and modernisation of the German higher education system in the framework of the European Bologna process.
... Recent changes in Germany, following the Sorbonne Declaration of 1998, has enabled the introduction of bachelor's and master's programmes as an alternative to traditional German qualifications. Agencies that wish to undertake initial accreditation of such programmes can be set up freely but need to be recognised by newly-established federal Accreditation Council (Akkreditierungsrat, 1999;Berner & Richter, 2001). The criteria for the agencies include being independent, not-for-profit, and to cover more than one higher education institution and more than one type of programme. ...
... The Akkreditierungsrat, an body created jointly by the public authorities and the higher education community, has the power to evaluate and accredit agencies operating in the accreditation of the new bachelor and masters programmes. For this metaaccreditation, the Akkreditierungsrat has developed a set of minimum standards for accrediting agencies, basically that agencies are to be independent, not-for-profit, and to cover more than one higher education institution and more than one type of programme (Berner & Richter, 2001;Westerheijden, 2001). The German system, as in the US and in contrast with the many monopolist quality assurance and accreditation systems in European countries, allows for freedom of accreditation, but demands formal recognition of meta-accreditation. ...
Trade in higher education in its many diverse forms transcends and challenges the national regulatory frameworks in higher education, including national quality assurance and accreditation systems. New kinds of international quality assurance and accreditation are seen as the crucial elements of regulation in a more and more trade oriented international higher education market. In this paper four models of development of international quality assurance are analysed: 1) Strengthening the capacities of national quality assurance and accreditation systems; 2) Promoting cross-border quality assurance and the mutual recognition of quality assurance and accreditation; 3) Developing meta-accreditation of quality assurance and accreditation agencies on an international and global level; and 4) Establishing international quality assurance and accreditation schemes. Current developments and strategies in international quality assurance are situated within these four models and discussed with reference to the trade in education issue.
... El-Hage (1997) summarised the position of significant German higher education institutions in regard to teaching evaluation. Four years later, Berner and Richter (2001) reported that the 16 German Lander had agreed to the establishment, alongside the traditional course system, of Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes, to be validated via accreditation agencies approved by a national Accreditation Council. The authors pointed out that the implementation of accreditation procedures marks a fundamental shift in the relationship between higher education institutions and the state and will, they argued, offer further possibilities for the development and modernisation of the German higher education system in the framework of the European Bologna process. ...
The review explores 15 years of contributions to Quality in Higher Education. In this first part the review focuses on external processes and factors, both national and international. The developments in a wide range of countries are reported and evaluated. The concept of quality should not be detached from purpose and context and quality has political undertones. A key issue for countries more recently introducing quality systems, especially less developed countries, is the transferability of systems established elsewhere in the world. Also apparent is how conceptions of quality assurance that originated in North West Europe and the USA have been the basis of developments around the world and how little variation there is in the methods adopted by quality‐assurance agencies. The proliferation of quality‐assurance agencies is being followed by a mushrooming of qualifications frameworks and the growing pressure to accredit everything, even if it is a poor means of assuring quality and encouraging improvement. The overall tenor of the contributions was that external quality evaluations are not particularly good at encouraging improvement, especially when they had a strong accountability brief. An essential element in this failure is the apparent dissolution of trust. Another issue is the use of industrial models and TQM in particular, which contributors, on the whole, regarded as of little use in the higher education setting. Although, not surprisingly, some contributions showed that institutional management impacts on quality. However, national performance indicators are viewed with suspicion, especially when they simply measure the easily measurable. Further, ranking systems are critiqued for their validity, methodology and the inadequate information they provide for students.
This chapter offers a conceptual contribution to the debate of European business schools and their future directions within the context of higher education internationalization. On the one hand, European business schools represent a continuous success story in terms of enrolment figures and increasing visibility on international rankings. On the other hand, particularly driven by overarching competitiveness paradigms, they are on a path of conformity and obedience to external pressures, leading to dangerously homogenous institutions. Furthermore, they are losing their esteem within society and face increasing criticism in the wake of financial and social crises, as business school contributions have come under scrutiny. Four drivers of European business schools internationalization are identified: globalization, EU policy, rankings/accreditation, and student consumerism. Opportunities and risks arising from all four drivers are highlighted in this chapter, and the subsequent discussion outlines potential future pathways of a more beneficial internationalization that allows for new perspectives beyond apparent Americanization tendencies. It is argued that, despite manifold ambiguities associated with such concepts, through a strategic elaboration of a distinct European identity, business schools could better meet their responsibilities and also develop propositions that are competitive in the global marketplace as well as inspiring constituencies beyond this continent.
Science and engineering educators and employers agree that students should graduate from college with expertise in their major subject area as well as the skills and competencies necessary for productive participation in diverse work environments. These competencies include problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration, among others. Using a pseudo-experimental design, and employing a variety of data from exam scores, course evaluations, and student assessment of learning gains (SALG) surveys of key competencies, we compared the development of both chemistry content knowledge and transferable or generic skills among students enrolled in two types of large classes: a lecture-based format versus an interactive, constructive, cooperative learning (flipped classroom) format. Controlling for instructor, as well as laboratory and recitation content, students enrolled in the cooperative learning format reported higher learning gains than the control group in essential transferable skills and competency areas at the end of the term, and more growth in these areas over the course of the term. As a result of their work in the class, the two groups of students reported the most significant differences in their gains in the following areas: “interacting productively to solve problems with a diverse group of classmates,” “behaving as an effective leader,” “behaving as an effective teammate,” and “comfort level working with complex ideas.” Our findings clearly show that cooperative learning course designs allow students to practice and develop the transferable skills valued by employers.
This chapter offers a conceptual contribution to the debate of European business schools and their future directions within the context of higher education internationalization. On the one hand, European business schools represent a continuous success story in terms of enrolment figures and increasing visibility on international rankings. On the other hand, particularly driven by overarching competitiveness paradigms, they are on a path of conformity and obedience to external pressures, leading to dangerously homogenous institutions. Furthermore, they are losing their esteem within society and face increasing criticism in the wake of financial and social crises, as business school contributions have come under scrutiny. Four drivers of European business schools internationalization are identified: globalization, EU policy, rankings/accreditation, and student consumerism. Opportunities and risks arising from all four drivers are highlighted in this chapter, and the subsequent discussion outlines potential future pathways of a more beneficial internationalization that allows for new perspectives beyond apparent Americanization tendencies. It is argued that, despite manifold ambiguities associated with such concepts, through a strategic elaboration of a distinct European identity, business schools could better meet their responsibilities and also develop propositions that are competitive in the global marketplace as well as inspiring constituencies beyond this continent.
The Degree of Realizing Higher Education Objectives from the academics of Faculty of Educational Sciences Perceptive
This study aimed at examine the extent of realizing higher education goals from the views of academics of the faculties of educational sciences in the Jordanian public universities. Also, it aimed to find out if there is a significant statistical differences in the extent of realizing higher education goals according to the academics gender, experience, qualifications and rank. The study sample consisted of (131) male and female academics who taught in the academic year 2002/2003.
The main findings of study were:
- Twenty four goals of higher education had a mean score above the study educational and social acceptable level which indicates that these goals were realized.
- Twelve goals of higher education had a mean score below the study educational acceptable level which indicates that these goals were not realized.
- There were no significant statistical differences in the extent of realizing higher education goals according to the academics experience, qualifications and rank.
- The study revealed that there is a significant statistical differences in the extent of realizing higher education goals according to the academics gender.
In the light of the study findings, the study recommended that the universities should pay more enhancement and concern for the unrealized goals and a adopt a clear strategy to realize these goals. Also, the universities should benefit from the international experiences in the area of quality assurance which guarantee a high extent of realization of the higher education goals. Finally, the study recommended that more studies should be conducted to examine the extent of realizing the universities programmes and courses goals.
The battle‐lines are drawn up in the various struggles for control of supranational external quality monitoring (accreditation and evaluation). The different types of supranational quality processes are outlined (as they existed at the time of the presentation of the paper to the Conference). The question asked is: who benefits from the extension of quality monitoring beyond national (and sub‐national) boundaries?
La situation de l'enseignement superieur en Allemagne est interessante puisque les universites et autres institutions dependent des Lander. De ce fait, il n'y a donc pas de systeme national d'assurance qualite. Mais le besoin d'une coordination efficace entre les differentes institutions au niveau regional a fait ressentir la necessite d'une coordination nationale. Cet exemple d'inter-regionalisation des procedures d'assurance-qualite est decrit dans cet article.
This article examines the evolving interrelationship between the assessment of student learning, accreditation and the evaluation of programme and institutional quality in the US. Within that evolving relationship, it also proposes a more proactive role for student‐centered assessment in state and national quality assurance processes.
Akkreditierungsagentu r fu È r Studienga È nge der Ingenieurwissenschaften und der Informatik. Kurzinforma-tion und SatzungAccreditatio n of institutions and study programs in higher educationÐ Experiences in the USA
- References Akkreditierungsrat
References AKKREDITIERUNGSRAT, 2000, Akkreditierung von Akkreditierungsagenturen und Akkreditierung von Studienga È ngen mit dem Abschlu È ssen Bachelor/Bakkalaureus und Master/Magister. Mindeststandards und Kriterien, http://www.akkreditierungsrat.de/index.html ASII, 2000, Akkreditierungsagentu r fu È r Studienga È nge der Ingenieurwissenschaften und der Informatik. Kurzinforma-tion und Satzung, http://www.sun.vdi-online.de/asii/ COOK, C.M., 1999, `Accreditatio n of institutions and study programs in higher educationÐ Experiences in the USA', in HOCHSCHULREKTORENKONFERENZ, Much Ado About Nothing? Evaluation of Learning and Teaching and its Consequences (Bonn).
Is there an academic audit in your future?', Change
- D D Dill
DILL, D.D., 2000, `Is there an academic audit in your future?', Change, July/August, pp. 35± 41. HOCHSCHULREKTORENKONFERENZ, 2000, Quality Assessment and Quality Developmen t in German Universitities with Particular Reference to the Assessment of Teaching (Bonn).
Neue Gestaltungsmo È glichkeiten fu È r das fu È r das Studium ero È ffnen
- Zentrale Evaluationsð
- Akkreditierungsagentur
ZENTRALE EVALUATIONSÐ UND AKKREDITIERUNGSAGENTUR (ZEvA), 1999, Neue Gestaltungsmo È glichkeiten fu È r das fu È r das Studium ero È ffnen. Die Akkreditierung gestufter Studienprogramme an Universita È ten und Fachhochschulen (Hannover).