Terminology (DESTIN and
SSU ICM) - FEB 2019 005
GUIDELINES
for Aligning and Checking
the Alignment of a Higher Education Study Programme’s Learning Outcomes
with Qualification Frameworks
(some Key Definitions
(from page 6)
1.
Some key definitions
Term
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Definition
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Source
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Alignment
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The alignment process, for the purpose of this Guideline, is a
process to determine whether an award made by a legitimate awarding body can
be recognised to be at a designated Level in a National Framework of
Qualifications (or in the absence of a Framework to the Dublin Descriptors
for a First Cycle (e.g. Bachelor), Second Cycle (e.g. Master) or Third Cycle
(e.g. Doctorate) qualification.
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Align project
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Study programme
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A study programme of
education and training refers to any process by which learners may
acquire knowledge, skill or competence. It includes programmes of study or
instruction, apprenticeships, training and employment.
A study programme offers learners learning
opportunities by which they may attain particular educational goals, by
engaging in learning activities in a learning environment. The goals are
expressed as the intended study programme learning outcome.
A study programme is normally comprised of
modules or units. A major degree
programme (e.g. Bachelor, Master, Postgraduate Diploma) will normally require
some kind of ‘cohesion generating’ process which integrates constituent
modules, or units, so that the minimum
intended programme learning outcomes are supported.
The cohesion generating process should establish the
epistemological and cultural identity of the study programme. It should also
coordinate alignment of activities with the minimum intended programme learning outcomes and introduce
learners to the broader community of practice to which they aspire.
In the development of a new study programme the link between the
intended learning outcomes and the created modules or units is established
explicitly.
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Glossary,
National Qualifications Authority of Ireland
Quality
& Qualifications Ireland, General Validation Handbook, Revised 20131
|
 |
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning
Outcomes
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There is a difference between Learning Outcomes and
Intended Learning
Outcomes.
Learning outcomes are: a learner’s knowledge, skill and competence change as a result of
learning. (In principle, learning outcomes may describe the change in
knowledge, skill or competence in an individual (differential form). They may
also mean the cumulative result of all learning, including prior learning at
the time of entry to the study programme (integral form). The outcomes
expected at level N are those specified at that level in addition to the
sum of those at lower levels.
Intended Learning Outcomes
represent the educational Outcomes: goals. They
describe the learning outcomes that the programme coordinator or teacher intends that learners will attain as a
result of teaching and learning
activities
Intended
learning outcomes must always include the
minimum intended learning
outcomes.
Actual learning outcomes achieved by a learner should include at
least the minimum intended learning outcomes; they will typically include
additional outcomes.
Intended programme learning outcomes set out the outcomes expected
across the entire study programme leading to an award. Thus an intended study
programme learning outcome is a statement of what a learner is expected to
know, the skills they will have and be able to use.
|
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Qualifications Framework
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A description of mutual relations between qualifications, which
aims to integrate and coordinate national qualifications subsystems and
improve the transparency, access, progression and quality of qualifications
for learners and the societies in which they live. In particular it describes
the hierarchy of qualifications levels – each qualification is linked to one
of these levels
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Descriptors
Level Descriptors
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General statements indicating the learning outcomes relevant to a
qualification at a given level, defined in terms of knowledge, skills and
competence.
Learning outcomes employed as generic statements that describe the
characteristics and context of learning.
|
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Module/unit
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Modules and units are synonymous. They are small discrete portions
of a study programme with their own specified learning outcomes which are
assessable. Some countries specify rules for size of a module/unit which
leads to differentiation between them.
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Also see the EU Commission’s own Glossary at…
http://ec.europa.eu/education/ects/users-guide/glossary_en.htm
