Higher education learning outcomes – transforming higher education?

Abstract

HELOs are therefore a key feature in a changing higher education landscape, linked to a range of policy shifts, and are applied through a wide range of measurements and approaches. In light of these challenges, in this issue of the European Journal of Education, we explore what HELOs are, how they are implemented, what shape they take and with what consequences. | APPROACHES T O HELOS -THE H ELO P ROJECTIt has been argued that new approaches are needed to investigate the 'impact' of the qualifications frameworks of which HELOs are part (Pilcher et al., 2015). As a response, the HELO project 1which the articles in this issue all draw on -was designed as a multidisciplinary and multi-method project, where a large corpus of interview material, together Eur J Educ. 2017;52:3-7 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ejed

Competences of adult education professionals in the European and Slovene context

“…Initial education programmes are, due to the Bologna reform of higher education in Slovenia, based on competences as well as programmes of further training that have been significantly influenced by the EC's 'Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications'. However, the extent to which this shift towards 'learning outcomes', that is, the shift from education objectives (intent, or what teachers should be teaching) to outcomes (competence assessment, or what learners should know), has been implemented in curricular practice remains debatable in Slovene educational practice (Caspersen, 2017).…”

Blueprints of distress?: Why quality assurance frameworks and disciplinary education cannot sustain a 21st-century education

“…Learning outcomes capture in advance in a single statement, typically beginning with an imperative action verb, the content or attribute the student will learn and what the student will be able to accomplish with mastery of the promised content or attribute. On the other side of the learning outcome the instructor comes to know what and how to teach towards a set of five to seven specific end-points (Liu, Bridgeman and Adler, 2012;Allgood and Bayer, 2017;Caspersen and Frølich, 2017). Rubrics operate as a subset of the learning outcome because they stipulate and quantify what, on the part of the client, will be measured and assessed by the instructor in any given activity.…”

The Impact of Slovenian Qualifications Framework: Stakeholders’ Perspective

“…The role of international organisations (IOs) in global and/or European education policy-making has received considerable attention in the scientific community (Caspersen and Frølich, 2017;Jakobi, 2009;Kleibrink, 2011;Portnoi, 2016), particularly their role in the establishment of the European qualifications framework (EQF), a key European policy instrument for lifelong learning (LLL) (Elken, 2015), and the national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) whose establishment have also been strongly supported by various IOs around the globe (Chakroun, 2010;Raffe, 2013). Nevertheless, there is still much to be learned about their impact on national education systems, policies and practices (Portnoi, 2016) and the application of the policies from IOs to the national level (Crossley, 2019;Jakobi, 2009).…”