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The purpose of this paper is to report on the Bologna Process in the light of globalisation and examine how it affects curriculum and engineering education developments.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the Bologna Process in the light of globalisation and examine how it affects curriculum and engineering education developments.
Design/methodology/approach
The growing need for creative competitiveness and the striving for specific profiles of engineering qualifications that are of high quality whilst taking account of diversity, transparency have resulted in the declaration of the Bologna Process. The qualifications framework proposed involving the cycle systems are examined taking account of globalization, quality assurance, management and diversity of needs. The future opportunities are explored taking account of global expectations.
Findings
The present research reveals that the Bologna Process provides a means through which higher education institutions (HEIs) can be encouraged to provide more attractive curricula for the younger generation for differing cultures whilst catering for the broad range of engineering fields where they could become more active later. The point is made that it serves to re‐invent engineering to meet the needs of the twenty‐first century.
Research limitations/implications
The present investigation focuses on the Bologna Process and its implications on engineering education in Europe. Future work hopes to extend this to other disciplines and to examine global effects in diverse cultures and also from gender, economic and development perspectives.
Practical implications
This paper could provoke HEIs outside Europe to evaluating their policies, revise strategies and moderate existing provisions, thereby assessing impact of the Bologna Process on engineering education in different countries and cultures.
Originality/value
Account is taken of the diversity and transparency which have resulted in the declaration of the Bologna Process. The paper discusses and reports on developments, prospects and challenges faced in the engineering curriculum provision following the introduction of the Bologna Process in the culturally diverse European higher education area. The new field of process systems engineering is also reported.
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Éamonn D'Arcy and Paloma Taltavull
The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the structure of real estate education provision in Europe, its key recent drivers and some ideas for its future development.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the structure of real estate education provision in Europe, its key recent drivers and some ideas for its future development.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an analysis of recent trends in provision based on the European course accreditation data provided by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The structure of provision is examined within the context of the significant changes which have taken place in the structure of European real estate markets as a means of identifying its key drivers. The analysis goes on to consider the opportunities presented for the future development of provision by two important initiatives the “Bologna Process” and the “European Real Estate Society Education Seminar”.
Findings
There has been considerable expansion in the provision of real estate education in Europe in recent years. The postgraduate level both full‐time and part‐time has been established as the dominant mode of provision with a business school setting as an increasingly important academic context. The two initiatives examined have the potential to contribute to the development of a truly pan‐European approach to real estate education.
Originality/value
The paper provides the first systematic review of real estate education provision in Europe directly related to changes in the structure of real estate markets. It provides educators which some ideas on how to shape future provision in particular though the development of key stakeholder relationships across Europe.
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Elisabeth T. Pereira, Madalena Vilas-Boas and Cátia C. Rebelo
In the last decade, graduates’ employability has assumed a central role in scholars’ concerns. This was mainly due the high rate of recent graduates’ unemployment in some European…
Abstract
Purpose
In the last decade, graduates’ employability has assumed a central role in scholars’ concerns. This was mainly due the high rate of recent graduates’ unemployment in some European countries, as well as the Bologna Process reform of the European higher education system and the new Europe Strategy 2020. The purpose of this paper, driven by the increasing need to improve graduates’ skills and employability, is to identify a set of skills that students consider important to achieve success in their own field of study and another set of skills, which they perceive to lack the most.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the main goal of this study, based on the methodology supported by literature review, a questionnaire was applied to students from five different European universities.
Findings
The main results allowed the authors to infer that, on the one hand, the European students of the universities included in the study consider communication, thinking and interpersonal skills as the most important skills to get a job in their own field of study; and on the other hand, personal, interpersonal and entrepreneurial skills are the skills lacked by students. These set of skills are quite similar and even overlapping, which makes this a significant inference that needs to be accounted by higher education institutions (HEIs).
Originality/value
In the research carried out in this study, with the students of five different European universities affected by the economic crisis of 2007/2008, the needed skills perceived by students to obtain employment in their own field of study were identified, along with the skills which they perceived to lack the most. The obtained findings contribute to shed light on the important issue of supporting HEIs regarding the skills that should be imparted in the curricula of their courses and workshops, in order to help the students to succeed in the current and potential competitive labour market.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the trends for digital library education in Europe. It addresses two questions: what are the roles for digital librarians? How should they…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the trends for digital library education in Europe. It addresses two questions: what are the roles for digital librarians? How should they be educated?
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on the results of the project “European Curriculum Reflections on Library and Information Science Education” and the proceedings of the Workshops on Digital Library Education, held in Italy in 2005 and in Croatia in 2006.
Findings
Three approaches to education for digital library are described: the emergence of the concept of “memory institutions”; the library‐based approach to knowledge management; and the isolation of IT from library and information science (LIS) schools.
Research limitations/implications
The roles of the digital librarian are suggested, and the structure of a course for digital library education is proposed, but further research is needed on the definition of the digital library concept.
Practical implications
A digital librarian should have a combination of technological and librarianship competences.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the issue of education needed for digital librarians in Europe.
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Núria Ferran, Jaume Casadesús, Monika Krakowska and Julià Minguillón
The purpose of this research is to propose an evaluation framework for analyzing learning objects usage, with the aim of extracting useful information for improving the quality of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to propose an evaluation framework for analyzing learning objects usage, with the aim of extracting useful information for improving the quality of the metadata used to describe the learning objects, but also for personalization purposes, including user models and adaptive itineraries.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents experimental results from the log usage analysis during one academic semester of two different subjects, 350 students. The experiment examines raw server log data generated from the interactions of the students with the classroom learning objects, in order to find relevant information that can be used to improve the metadata used for describing both the learning objects and the learning process.
Findings
Preliminary studies have been carried out in order to obtain an initial picture of the interactions between learners and the virtual campus, including both services and resources usage. These studies try to establish relationships between user profiles and their information and navigational behavior in the virtual campus, with the aim of promoting personalization and improving the understanding of what learning in virtual environments means.
Research limitations/implications
During the formal learning process, students use learning resources from the virtual classroom provided by the academic library, but they also seek information outside the virtual campus. All these usage data are not considered in the model proposed here. Further research is needed in order to obtain a complete view of the seeking information behavior of students for improving the users' profile and creating better personalized services.
Practical implications
This paper suggests how a selection of fields used in the LOM standard could be used for enriching the description of learning objects, automatically in some cases, from the learning objects usage performed by an academic community.
Originality/value
From libraries beginnings, they have been a “quiet storage place”. With the development of digital libraries, they become a meeting place where explicit and implicit recommendations about information sources can be shared among users. Social and learning process interactions, therefore, can be considered another knowledge source.
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Sirje Virkus and Lawraine Wood
This paper examines current trends and developments in higher education (HE) and the responses of HE institutions to these changes. The contribution of Library and Information…
Abstract
This paper examines current trends and developments in higher education (HE) and the responses of HE institutions to these changes. The contribution of Library and Information science (LIS) institutions to innovation in Europe is examined through three case studies – the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), the Robert Gordon University (RGU) and the Tallinn Pedagogical University (TPU). Technology, globalisation, and competition have caused the ground to shift under HE worldwide. HE institutions have had to rethink their environment in the light of new technologies. During the last five years MMU, RGU and TPU have developed new programmes and courses, new teaching and learning approaches and used information communication technology to support teaching and learning. All staff members have been actively involved in change and the innovation process. In most cases changes have been incremental and the impact of these changes has been rather positive.
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Increasing flexibility and student mobility are among the most important objectives of today’s universities. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of student…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasing flexibility and student mobility are among the most important objectives of today’s universities. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of student exchange process (SEP) on a campus management system (CMS), compare different models and recommend an improvement handling transfer process.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review of how credit transfer is handled in today’s CMS was conducted to understand the information management methods used in the student transfer process. On this basis, a flexible task-based system design is recommended to facilitate the transfer of educational gains between universities. For evaluating the effectiveness of different system designs in the SEP, the duration of information processing process steps was measured quantitatively via on-site observations and user interview in a university’s horizontal, vertical and the Erasmus student exchange (SE) data.
Findings
Building a flexible system design based on a loosely coupled mapping between curriculum and educational activities, and increasing the self-management capabilities of a student will facilitate managing SE data in an integrated environment and reduce the university staff’s workload considerably.
Originality/value
To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study making quantitatively measurement and comparison of different credit transfer methods of CMSs. Based on this result, the authors have recommended a new flexible method that supports increasing a student’s self-administration capabilities, reducing the workload of university staff, and contributes academic mobility.
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Luc Honore Petnji Yaya, Frederic Marimon, Josep Llach, Merce Bernardo and Marti Casadesus
The purpose of this paper is to identifying, discussing and analyzing the existing education and training programs related to quality management system (QMS) in Spain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identifying, discussing and analyzing the existing education and training programs related to quality management system (QMS) in Spain.
Design/methodology/approach
Exhaustive search of the education system database was used to map the multifaceted of Spanish education system and professional training in addition to their relationships with the labor market. Thereafter, a thorough scan of the existing training related to management system standards was used to classify them into different subgroups as well as identifying possible education and the professional trainings related to QMS.
Findings
The overall results showed that general education in Spain and in particular related to QMS can be classified into four different groups including: official university, unofficial university, official non-university and unofficial non-university. Moreover, this study observed that the general concern about the employment and earnings in Spain has led the local, autonomous communities and national government to launch specific measures designed to both continue to increase the quality of the workforce with the QMS backgrounds and to ease the difficulties encountered when entering the labor market.
Originality/value
This study is the first to analyze and map the multifaceted character of Spanish education system and professional training related to QMS. The findings of this study may be useful for organizations trying to evaluate their QMS efforts, thus, engage their people in order to face the competitive challenges that lie ahead.
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Tamara Poje and Maja Zaman Groff
To build public trust in the accounting profession, previous research studies have stressed the need for ethics education. This present research aims to investigate the effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
To build public trust in the accounting profession, previous research studies have stressed the need for ethics education. This present research aims to investigate the effects of teaching ethics using the ethics education toolkit (EET) developed by the International Accounting Education Standards Board on accounting students’ moral judgment.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental design was used to determine the effects of teaching ethics using the EET on moral judgment. Data were obtained using the multidimensional ethics scale questionnaire and analysed with multiple linear regression. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the four moral philosophies defined in the literature.
Findings
The results confirm that use of the EET improves the moral judgment of accounting students. The influence of utilitarianism and relativism on moral judgment was reduced, while the students’ ability to recognise violating an unwritten contract as an unethical act was improved. Contrary to expectations, the influence of justice on moral judgment decreased.
Practical implications
The study may benefit academics by showing positive outcomes of EET use. The EET is a well-developed teaching tool, also suitable for educators insufficiently qualified to develop their own ethics courses or facing time constraints.
Originality/value
The EET was developed to support implementation of ethics education in programmes for professional accountants. By investigating the applicability and effects of the tool in higher education, this study aims to develop moral judgment in accounting students before they enter the accounting profession.
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Sónia Cardoso, Orlanda Tavares and Cristina Sin
Industrial doctorates have arisen in recent decades as a new form of doctoral education which has the potential to innovate the curriculum, among other things. Such programmes run…
Abstract
Purpose
Industrial doctorates have arisen in recent decades as a new form of doctoral education which has the potential to innovate the curriculum, among other things. Such programmes run in a number of countries including Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia or Italy. In Portugal, industrial doctorates are very recent. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether Portuguese industrial doctorates distinguish themselves through collaboration with industry, specifically in curriculum development and delivery, or if they replicate the traditional doctorates under a new name.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from self-assessment reports of existing programmes submitted to the Portuguese accreditation agency and interviews with programme leaders were analysed.
Findings
The findings suggest that despite the fact that there is space for improvement in the collaboration in curriculum development and delivery, this is nonetheless a dimension which differentiates industrial doctorates. Industrial doctorates can, therefore, be “judged by their cover” because they are indeed a new category of doctoral degrees.
Originality/value
Although circumscribed to the Portuguese context and focussed on a particular aspect of university–industry collaboration, the paper contributes to further knowledge on industrial doctorates, a topic on which research is still scarce.
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