scholarly journals The Bologna process: a study about teachers' perception of their new role and its consequences

Author(s):  
María Dolores Lagoa-Varela ◽  
Begoña Alvarez García ◽  
Lucía Boedo Vilabella

In the last twenty-five years many changes have taken place in the Spanish University system and, as a consequence, the university lecturer’s role has evolved and a new teaching style prevails. The present paper focuses on University teachers of Economics and Business. It explores the teachers’ perception about the new methodologies that they have implemented, the extent to which the process of change has modified their way of working and, finally, the benefits and drawbacks encountered. Moreover, we examine whether differences of opinion arise depending on the distinct personal and professional characteristics of each teacher. The results reveal that most of the methodological changes undergone by the teachers stem more from the new profile of their students than by regulatory obligations. There is a unanimous opinion that the time and effort dedicated to teaching is now notably greater and that it is necessary to develop a rigorous system of teaching evaluation. In addition, two clear aspects can be observed: on the one hand, staff with a wider experience has carried out more changes and uses new technologies to a greater extent, and, on the other hand, the use and promotion of English in class is still a crucial issue.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Chaleta

This chapter presents the perception of university teachers about the university, the most recent changes and how they have influenced their activity. The phenomenographic study was conducted with 10 university teachers, nine females and one male with more than 15 years of professional activity. The perception of the university emerges, in the teachers’ voice, focused on the description of its mission, namely as a context for the production and diffusion of knowledge to society, as a space for creative and critical thinking about the world, as an interdisciplinary space and as a system focused on teaching and research. It also includes characteristics related to its structure and functioning, such as the level of hierarchization, bureaucratization, competitiveness, dehumanization and bibliometrics overvaluation. Regarding the perceived changes, they are related to the structural reforms resulting from the Bologna Process, diverse student populations, research and internationalization, new technologies, institutional cooperation, bureaucratization and relationship with the community. Teachers also revealed some dissatisfaction in the way they are experiencing university life due to the overwork resulting from the multiple tasks required in the four activity strands (teaching, research, management and extension) with an impact on quality and innovation, but in line with what the institution demands.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-164
Author(s):  
Saskia Grooters ◽  
Emma Zaal ◽  
Menno Gerkema

A strong theoretical approach with a specific focus on disciplinary research characterizes the common science master’s education in the Netherlands. However, a work-based learning (WBL) approach may as well be expedient and suitable for science education at master’s level. In this paper, a case study is presented of a WBL-program designed for an academic setting: the one year Science, Business and Policy (SBP) master’s track, offered at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen. The paper describes the design and curriculum of the track, including its underlying theoretical framework, courses, multidisciplinary projects and work placements. Based on the SBP-track’s design we identified six possible indicators of a successful elaboration of an academic WBL-program: the SBP-track 1) is designed in response to the Bologna process; 2) is offered fully within the curriculum of a master’s program of a research university; 3) requires a sufficient academic level and disciplinary knowledge at entrée; 4) follows an educational project approach; 5) focuses on the integration and implementation of knowledge, and; 6) applies learning objectives that are specifically formulated to match the WBL educational method. A directed content analysis of SBP work placements revealed an increase in the number of SBP-students between 2003 and 2019, with an overrepresentation of life science students, as well as a large variety of real-case problems addressed for both business and policy organisations diverse in sector, size and region. Students’ grades showed a positive correlation between the initial theoretical preparation and the report made during the work placement. In conclusion, the societal interpretation of the Bologna process has been implemented successfully with SBP, by combining academic learning with gaining professional experience using a WBL-approach. Received: 03 December 2020Accepted: 09 April 2021


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-55
Author(s):  
Klara Skubic Ermenc ◽  
Nataša Živković Vujisić ◽  
Vera Spasenović

Over the previous decade, higher education in Slovenia and Serbia has undergone considerable reforms, influenced by the Bologna process and its agenda of competence and learning outcomes. In the context of these reforms, the aim of this research is to consider the question of the relationship between the theoretical and the practical education of pedagoguesat the university level. Eleven university professors from departments of pedagogy and andragogy at the universities of Ljubljana and Belgrade were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews focused on two main research questions: 1) how they understand the relationship between pedagogical theory and practice, and the identity of pedagogy as a science in that context, and 2) their opinion about the competence-based  approach in the context of the study of pedagogy. The findings show that the majority of the interviewed university teachers hold an opinion that pedagogy is primarily a theoretical (reflective) science and, accordingly, that the mastery of theory is crucial for the development of pedagogues’ competences. Furthermore, most of them are rather reserved and critical of the competence approach as well as of the practical skills development. Although there are some differences in opinions between the professors from Ljubljana and Belgrade, this study shows that similar discourses prevail. The gap between pedagogical theory and practice is one of the major issues that have been current in pedagogical science in the recent decades. The findings of our research indicate that there is dissatisfaction with the relationship between modern pedagogical theory and practice, accompanied by the need for its reconceptualization. 


Author(s):  
Patrizio Rigobon

Catalan has been taught at the University of Venice since 1974 when it was established through a reformation of the range of options previously in force. Giovanni Battista De Cesare was actually the first teacher of Catalan, even though in earlier decades at least two former professors of Spanish language and literature were also familiar with Catalan culture: Marco Antonio Canini (1822-91) and Giovanni Maria Bertini (1900-95). Catalan was offered once again two years later (in 1976) with a more fortunate new start. Carlos Romero Muñoz taught Catalan in Venice from that date until 1998-1999 and helped to make the study of Catalan in Venice less precarious. Following the Bologna process, at the beginning of the new millennium, the Italian degree-courses were adapted to the new cycles, which created some problems for the teaching of Catalan in Italian universities. Despite all that, Catalan is still alive and kicking, and has stalwartly borne itself up against both the competition of the most widely-spoken European languages and the laws for the reformation of the university system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Sonia Pavlenko ◽  
Cristina Bojan

Higher education has always been associated in one way or another with crisis. One could even argue that the university has always faced one type of crisis or another. The one debated the most is the economic crisis; however, there are many debates focusing on other types of crisis. Furthermore, all major reforms in the history of higher education (from Humboldt’s reform in 19th century Prussia to the views promoted by Y Gasset against the background of the Spanish revolution, or even the Bologna Process) have arisen as a result of a crisis. Today, the global economic crisis has yet again highlighted the fact that the idea of the university, the very foundation on which it was built, is no longer present when addressing contemporary issues in higher education. Our paper argues that there is an imperative need to reclaim and reconsider the idea of the university, as this could provide a possible solution to today’s crisis in higher education. Furthermore, we will attempt to show the reasons why this should occur, as well as the manner in which it could be achieved. The focus today is on too many minute, detailed aspects of higher education institutions, which are managed, evaluated, quality assured, ranked, assessed and so forth, while the global perspective on the university has been lost/ignored. Today’s crisis could be used as an opportunity to reassess and re-establish a relevant idea for today’s university. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-60
Author(s):  
SVETLANA KOBACHEVSKAYA

In the current article, the viewpoints of the Belarusian and foreign scientists and experts on the organization of international cooperation in Higher Education Institutions within the Bologna process are analyzed, the directions of organization of interuniversity cooperation of the university are considered, the experience of Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank in this direction and the objectives of interuniversity development are defined.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-19
Author(s):  
Katažyna Mikša

The paper analyzes the system of legal education in Lithuania. It provides a short historical overview and recent developments in this area. On the one hand, higher education institutions try to implement main goals of the Bologna Process and to provide two-cycle studies in the field of law. On the other hand, there are still very strong ties to the traditional one-stage model of legal studies. Thus, universities try to combine both these models and offer both two-stage and one-stage studies. In such a situation students are given an opportunity to choose the model they prefer. The paper gives an insight into the programs of studies offered by the universities in Lithuania. The last thing discussed in the article is the issue of securing quality of legal studies.


Author(s):  
José Luis González-Geraldo ◽  
Fuensanta Monroy

The Bologna process involved a strategic change that included in its policy agenda a move towards a student-centred scenario. In addition, a reasonable association may be assumed to exist between teaching development programmes and student learning outcomes. This research study focused on the impact that a brief yet intense formal and non-qualifying teaching programme, delivered as a seminar and supported by the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) in Spain, had on teachers’ approaches to teaching measured by the most recent Spanish adaptation of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (S-ATI-20). Results showed that there was a positive and statistically significant impact of the training programme on approaches to teaching measured by the information transmission/teacher-focused scale (ITTF). The poor attendance rate to this non-compulsory programme, course duration, participant profile, psychometric structure of the questionnaire used, and the relationship between teaching development programmes and approaches to teaching are discussed.


Author(s):  
David Revesado Carballares

The Spanish educational system has been witnessing a profound transformation over the last few years, with numerous changes that affect different areas of our system, among them, one of the most talked about, is the one that concerns the university environment, and to be more concrete, to its access, which, through the Ley Orgánica de Mejora de la Calidad Educativa promulgated in December last 2013, will perform a transformation in the access model. The article begins by approaching in a historical perspective the transition to the Spanish university, over the last decades, to analyze in detail the proposal that brings the new educational law. The main objective that we intend to get is none other than to show the reality of our current access system, valuing, in turn, the need for a change, as reflected in the new education law. The consolidation of this proposal will be accompanied by the incorporation of various selective strategies, which will allow the Spanish university system to achieve higher quality standards


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