Towards the Two-cycle Degree Structure: Bologna, Reform and Path Dependency in German and Norwegian Universities

Kehm, Bárbara M.; Michelsen, Svein; Vabø, Agnete

doi:10.1057/hep.2010.7

Cited by 43 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…However, if one thinks of students as stakeholders of higher education, it is striking how important student evaluation and student feedback seem to be as a change driver in the study programmes. Of course, student evaluations can also be interpreted along the disciplinary perspective -as a way to strengthen the communication and academic interaction between student and staff in a more Humboldtian perspective (Kehm et al, 2010). Hence, the relatively huge weight given to student evaluations as a driver for change can be interpreted in very different ways.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, in Europe it is also possible to see a shift in political attention away from the early focus on programme structures to an increased focus on student-centred learning, student skills and knowledge content (Vukasovic et al, 2015). For example, while the early years of the Bologna Process saw a strong focus on structural change related to the three plus two degree cycle and the establishment of the ECTS framework (Kehm et al, 2010), it is possible to argue that in later years much more political attention has been given to student qualifications, and how student learning can be enhanced (Elken, 2016).…”

Section: The Blurring International and Domestic Political Agendasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following these changes it is well documented that, as part of the Bologna Process, the bachelor-master structure, the introduction of the ECTS credit system, and national quality assurance systems have been implemented in the majority of European countries (Vukasovic et al, 2015). However, while European policy initiatives and domestic reforms indeed have put their mark on the higher education sector, there is also considerable evidence that structural changes at systems level may not always have the greatest of impact at micro-level (Henkel, 2000;Musselin, 2005;Kehm et al, 2010;De Boer et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Policy, Perceptions, and Practice: A Study of Educational Leadership and Their Balancing of Expectations and Interests at Micro-level

2018

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As international and domestic policy initiatives continue to sweep over higher education, it is of utmost importance to study how those responsible for the implementation of the many initiatives taken perceive and respond to the many expectations about change and renewal. Through three different analytical perspectives-a managerial, a disciplinary, and a stakeholder perspective-the current article offers insights into how educational leaders responsible for the management of study programs at micro level interpret external expectations and how they prioritise between them. Based on data derived from a representative sample of Norwegian educational leaders, the current article finds-somewhat surprisingly-that the managerial perspective is less relevant for understanding the sensemaking of educational leaders and how they prioritize between different tasks in their daily work. Disciplinary and the stakeholder perspectives are in this respect more relevant for explaining the practices related to program management. The study provides indications of a (continued) gap between macro-level policy-making and its implementation at micro-level. In the conclusion, the findings are reflected upon and implications for policy and practice are outlined.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Blurring International and Domestic Political Agendasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Policy, Perceptions, and Practice: A Study of Educational Leadership and Their Balancing of Expectations and Interests at Micro-level

2018

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“…Especially the German science system has been described as slow to adapt to new expectations (Lange and Krücken 2011 ), and it has been said that “the discourse on university reform [was] not met at the level of organizational practices” (Krücken 2003a ; cf. Kehm et al 2010 ). Mainly based on observations from former Western German universities, this has been attributed to a strong preservation of Humboldtian ideals of unity of research and teaching, institutional barriers to the third mission of research commercialization (Krücken 2003b ) and a tradition of recruiting managerial staff who lack business or legal expertise (Lange and Krücken 2011 ).…”

Section: Conceptualizing Continuity and Change In Technology Transfermentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaginaries of Invention Management: Comparing Path Dependencies in East and West Germany

Sigl

Leišytė

2018

Minerva

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The ways in which societies and institutions institutionalize and practice invention management reflects not only how new ideas are valued, but also imaginaries about the role of science and technology for societal development. Often taking the US Bayh-Dole-Act as a model, many European states have recently implemented changes in how inventions at academic institutions are to be handled to optimize their societal impact. We analyze how these changes have been taken up—and made sense of—in regions with different pre-existing infrastructures, practices and semantics of invention management. For doing so, we build on a comparative analysis of continuities and changes in infrastructures, practices and semantics of invention management in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW, a former Western state) and Saxony (a former GDR state) to reflect on how academic institutions have been handling inventions along transforming socio-political contexts. Building on document analysis and qualitative interviews with research managers, we discuss ongoing differences in practices of invention management and the semantic framing of the societal value of inventions in NRW and Saxony, and discuss how this can be understood before the background of their ideological, political and economic separation until reunification in 1990. Joining the conceptual perspectives of path dependencies and sociotechnical imaginaries, we argue that two critical incidents in the history of these states (the reunification in 1990 and a legal change in 2002) allowed for wide-ranging institutional alignments, but also allowed path dependencies in practices and semantics of invention management to prevail.

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“…Although degree and programme structures were somewhat modified during the educational expansion period and divided into a small number of relatively large modules, the different academic tribes were able to continue to develop different structures and strategies (Høstaker, ). In the humanities, more extensive forms of modularisation were fought by a coalition of students and the professoriate as an ‘anti‐Humboldtian’ all‐out attack on the values of Lehr‐ and Lernfreiheit (Kehm, Michelsen & Vabø, ). For a long time, these disciplines managed to keep older modes of teaching and learning, where their distinct theories and knowledge traditions remained the point of departure (Vabø, ).…”

Section: Learning Outcomes and The Humanitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher Education Learning Outcomes and their Ambiguous Relationship to Disciplines and Professions

Michelsen

Vabø

Kvilhaugsvik

et al. 2017

Euro J of Education

Self Cite

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This article highlights the significance of professional and disciplinary spaces in the shaping of Learning Outcomes (Los) in higher education. It is based on empirical studies of three programmes (engineering, the humanities and medicine) at two Norwegian universities. The results demonstrate both similarities and differences in the dynamics of learning outcomes formation. In the humanities and engineering they were translated into learning objectives, closing in on course rationalisation and portfolio coherence. Whilst the focus in the humanities remained internal in orientation, in engineering, internal processes of implementation merged with quality assurance and external development processes mediated by the engineering profession. In medicine, the introduction and implementation of learning outcomes were mediated by prior experiences with problem-based learning practices. During that process, learning outcomes became oriented towards professional identity and conformity to international quality standards. In that sense, learning outcomes could function as regulatory mechanisms sheltering medical education from outside interference rather than as a tool for structuring learning. Within the framework of learning outcomes, professional compliance with external scrutiny through the display of standards has become more important, but also more linked to the university as an organisational actor. K E Y W O R D S disciplines ambiguity, higher education, learning outcomes, norway, professions | I N T R O D U C T I O NIn this article, we highlight the significance of professional and disciplinary spaces and the interaction of institutional and professional/disciplinary logics in the interpretation and shaping of learning outcomes (LOs). We ask: How are learning outcomes shaped in professional and disciplinary study programmes? As the Norwegian higher education 56 |

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Towards the Two-cycle Degree Structure: Bologna, Reform and Path Dependency in German and Norwegian Universities

Cited by 43 publications

References 3 publications

Policy, Perceptions, and Practice: A Study of Educational Leadership and Their Balancing of Expectations and Interests at Micro-level

Policy, Perceptions, and Practice: A Study of Educational Leadership and Their Balancing of Expectations and Interests at Micro-level

Imaginaries of Invention Management: Comparing Path Dependencies in East and West Germany

Higher Education Learning Outcomes and their Ambiguous Relationship to Disciplines and Professions

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