Rome Student Systems and Standards Group Sharing Perspectives for the Rapid Development of Standards for Course Description and Curriculum Data Dublin,

Rome Student Systems and Standards Group

Sharing Perspectives for the Rapid Development of Standards

for Course Description and Curriculum Data

Dublin, 25th April 2008

Student System Implementers’ Perspective : What specifications do we need?

Page 2 / 13Rome Student Systems and Standards Group – Dublin Workshop, 25th April 2008

Student System Implementer’s Perspective

What business processes or documents should be “specified”?


The opportunities for standards

Student Observatory

STUDY PROGRAMMES & COURSE UNITS CATALOGUE

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STUDY PROGRAMME DETAILS

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COURSE UNIT DETAILS

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LEARNING AGREEMENT

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TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS

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DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT

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CURRICULUM VITAE

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student course history

course description


Business Cases Flow


Business Case: Academic Offer Validation

CONTEXT: universities sending their academic offer for next academic year to Ministry for approval

AIMS: automate course offering validation process between Universities and Ministry through electronic data exchange

Course Offering

University Ministry



STAKEHOLDERS• Ministry of University and Research (Ministries of Education at large)• Higher Education Institutions' administrations and faculties• Quality Assurance bodies and Institutions

REQUIREMENTS• Articulated description of the structure of the programs of study including ECTS information (credits)

which is going to be published to the student community the next academic year

OUTCOMES• Ministry-approved academic offering which is compliant with both the national and European

regulations • Fully articulated academic offer structure which can be offered (i.e. published) the following academic

year• A set of program of studies to which students can enrol into the following academic year



CASE STUDY: MIUR and CINECA – OFF.F

AIMS

• To enable the adoption of a proactive quality assurance and monitoring process for learning opportunities offered for the implementation of the Bologna process, at institutional, national and European levels.

• To support the analysis and control of the learning opportunities offered throughout the years.

• To report to European Community and assess the comprehensiveness and validity of the learning opportunities offered.

PARTNERS

• CINECA

• KION

• MIUR

• All Italian Higher Education Institutions

MORE INFO

http://offf.miur.it/index.html



CASE STUDY: MIUR and CINECA – OFF.F


Business Case: Course Advertising

CONTEXT: institutions want to advertise their study programmes widely

AIMS: enable brokers to aggregate offers of different institutions on common web portals

student

web portal

institutioninstitution



STAKEHOLDERS• Institutions of Higher Education as course providers• Brokers aggregating information from different institutions on a web portal• prospective students

REQUIREMENTS• high-detailed description of study programmes with a focus on learning outcomes, requirements, formalities, contact information etc...• searchable information• scalable information (simple text, structured text)

OUTCOMES• searchable database of courses on offer at different institutions• all aggregation levels possible (national/international/regional/sectoral/network)• consistency / comparability of course information• further services (application, web 2.0 etc.) can be offered basing on course information



CASE STUDY: Regional portal for courses on offer in Lille (France)

AIMS

• searchable database of all courses on offer at the institutions of higher education in the “Nord Pas de Calais” Region

• aggregating CDM files coming from each institutions

• links to the corresponding institutions own catalogues with detailled course description

• consistency / comparability of course information

PARTNERS

• UVHC - Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut Cambrésis [199]

• Lille 1 - Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille [218]

• Lille 2 - Université du Droit et de la Santé [135]

• Lille 3 - Université Charles de Gaulle [239]

• Université d'Artois [159]

• Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale [153]

MORE INFO

http://www.unr-npdc.org/formations



CASE STUDY: Regional portal for courses on offer in Lille (France)


Business Case: Applications to HEIs via a Broker – UCAS in UK

CONTEXT: Major broker for applications to UK HE (UCAS 0.5M+ applicants to 300+ institutions p.a.)

AIMS: Aggregate learning opportunities to provide central search, information, advice & guidance; Facilitate one-stop-shop application to multiple HEIs (based on learner preferences and HEI offers); Track status of applications; Establish contract between learner and HEI when offer criteria fulfilled by results; Facilitate transfer of data about successful applicants into HEIs


Business Case: Applications to HEIs via a Broker - UCAS in UK

STAKEHOLDERS

•Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

•Broker (UCAS)

•Applicants (pay a fee)

•Systems Implementers – Student Information Systems, ePortfolio, VLE, etc..

•Government and other bodies

REQUIREMENTS

•Common data format for HEIs to advertise learning opportunities via Broker (XCRI)

•Common data format to prompt Applicants to structure Applications (Personal Statements)

•Common data format to collate and authenticate Applicants’ Prior Achievements (Results)

•Common data format for Broker to pass Applications to HEI Student Information Systems

•Common data format for HEIs to notify Broker of decisions, offers & feedback to Applicants

•Common data format for Broker to report Application statistics to Government (& sell to HEIs)

OUTCOMES

•XML standards for SIS vendors and HEI recruitment and admissions departments to work to

•Common means to request , receive and forward authenticated achievement data

•Opportunities for Applicants to submit evidence from ePortfolios against entry criteria


Business Case: Catalogue of course units

CONTEXT: students searching for detailed information about course units available at their own institution

AIMS: enable standardised catalogue of course units on the institution website

student

institution



STAKEHOLDERS•Institutions of Higher Education •Students

REQUIREMENTS•high-detailed description of course units •searchable information•scalable information (simple text, structured text)

OUTCOMES•searchable database of course units on offer at one institution•consistency / comparability of course units information•further services (application, web 2.0 etc.) can be offered basing on course information



CASE STUDY: Catalogue of course units at Université Lille 1

AIMS

• searchable database of all course units offered by the institution

• using CDM format

• consistency / comparability of course information

PARTNERS

• Lille 1 - Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille [218]

MORE INFO

http://www.unr-npdc.org/formations



CASE STUDY: Catalogue of course units at Université Lille 1


Business Case: Exchange mobility

CONTEXT: students moving from one to another institution within an exchange programme

AIMS: automate and secure the exchange of student course history between partner institutions

exchange student

home institution host institution

BEFORE MOBILITY: Learning Agreement (LA) based on course offer of host institution is to be validated and signed by student and both institutions

AFTER MOBILITY: Transcript of Records (ToR) and Exchange Studies Supplement (ESS) is issued by host institution

AT THE END OF STUDIES: Transcript of Records (ToR) and Diploma Supplement (DS) is issued by home institution including courses from host institution



STAKEHOLDERS• Institutions of Higher Education• Students• Providers of student management systems• Brokers: providing common web platform for supporting the issuing and exchange of LA, ToR, ESS

REQUIREMENTS• detailed description of course units including ECTS information (credits)• detailed description of student course history including course units attended (basing on first requirement) and grades obtained• standard format for LA, ToR, ESS• standard format for Transfer Articulation Agreement (TA) linking courses at home and host institutions

OUTCOMES• searchable catalogue of course units at partner institutions available on public web portals• exchange of ToR, ESS in a standardised format• generation of LA, TA in a standardised format• transfer of student course history between institutions and import into student management systems (for later issuing of DS)• authentication of LA, ToR, ESS, TA through digital signature



CASE STUDY: unisolution – e-Learning Agreement

AIMS

Developing a European platform enabling

- exchange students to access standardized catalogues of the courses on offer at host institutions

- exchange students to elaborate LA basing if available on these offers

- partner institutions to track the changes made to the LA

- partner institutions to edit ToR and ESS at the end of mobility

- partner institutions to export/import student course history from/into their student management systems

PARTNERS

25 Institutions of Higher Education from 8 European countries within the moveonnet work group

MORE INFO

http://www.moveonnet.eu/about/workgroup



CASE STUDY: unisolution – e-Learning Agreement


Business Case: Transfer mobility

CONTEXT: students moving from a first institution to a second to obtain a degree / to graduate

AIMS: enable students to transfer electronically their student course history from one institution to an other

transfer student

first institution second institutionTRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS

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(PRO FORMA)DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT

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e e



STAKEHOLDERS• Institutions of Higher Education• Students• Students employers• Providers of student management systems• Brokers: providing common web platform for supporting the issuing and exchange of ToR, DS• Learner

REQUIREMENTS• standard format for ToR, DS, pro forma-DS• standard format for Transfer Articulation Agreement (TA) linking courses at different institutions OUTCOMES• exchange of ToR, DS in a standardized format• upload on web portal of ToR and DS by the student• generation of TA in a standardized format• import of student course history into student management systems (for later DS)• authentication of ToR and DS when combined use of digital signature



CASE STUDY: Academyone – CollegeTransfer.net


Business Case: Graduation documents – Diploma Supplement

CONTEXT: Graduation documents issued by HEIs to graduates to certify their qualification(s)

AIMS: standardise and secure the exchange of graduation documents between issuers, students, and relying parties

Issuing

Institution

Relying Party Graduate


Business Case: Graduation documents – Diploma Supplement

STAKEHOLDERS

•Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

•Graduates

•Relying Parties – Recruiters, HEIs, life-long learning systems

•Systems Implementers – HR, Student Information Systems, ePortfolio, VLE, etc..

•Government and other bodies

REQUIREMENTS

•Common data format for DS

•Encompass existing approaches and best-practice technologies

•Recognise and accommodate national requirements and practices

•Incorporate all necessary information, including Recognition for Prior Learning and exchange-related data

OUTCOMES

•Practical XML schema for representation of European Diploma Supplement

•Common means to sign and authenticate DS using Advanced Electronic Signatures

•Common means to translate DS into other formats as required (HR, e-Portfolio, non-EU equivalent)


Business Case: Employment

CONTEXT: students looking for a job, or getting work experience in Europe

AIMS: making students' skills and qualifications clearly understood on the labour market and in education and training across Europe.



STAKEHOLDERS

• Students

• Higher Education Institutions

• Recruitment brokers/agencies

• Employers

REQUIREMENTS

• Personal data

• Student academic careers data

• Professional competences acquired in any kind of training (internships)

• Languages skills

• International mobility experience

OUTCOMES

• Structured and comparable description of the skills and competences of an individual

• One common format of comparable skills and competences.



CASE STUDY: Cedefop - EUROPASS

AIMS

•(e)portfolio of documents of skills and competences including :

– Personal information, academic career (CV),

– Academic competences (Diploma Supplement)

– Professional competences (Certificate Supplement)

– Language skills (Language passport)

– Experiences abroad (Mobility experience)

PARTNERS

•Cedefop

•European Commision

•National Europass Centers

MORE INFO

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/img/dynamic/c1399/type.FileContent.file/EuropassDecision_en_US.PDF



CASE STUDY: Cedefop - EUROPASS


Business Case: Student Observatory

CONTEXT: universities sending their career status of each student to central Ministry database

AIMS: collecting information about all Italian universities’ students into a single, centralised repository for monitoring and statistics purposes

Student Data

University Ministry



STAKEHOLDERS

• Ministry of University and Research (Ministries of Education at large)

• Higher Education Institutions' administrations and faculties

• Quality Assurance bodies and Institutions

REQUIREMENTS

• Student data including:

– Personal information,

– academic career: enrollments, registrations, study programs changes, etc

– Mobility: exchanges and transfers

– Exams situation

– Graduation or drop-outs

OUTCOMES

• Structured database of all university students – attending and already graduated.

• Publicly available information via web portal of Higher Education statistics nationwide.



CASE STUDY: MIUR and CINECA – Student Observatory

AIMS

• To create a comprehensive database of all Italian Higher Education students career (post-reform of 1999)

• To give public access to Higher Education statistics in Italy

• To support the analysis and Higher Education performance throughout the years.

• To report to stakeholders information about Higher Education situation and trends

PARTNERS

•CINECA

•KION

•MIUR

•All Italian Higher Education Institutions

MORE INFO

http://anagrafe.miur.it

http://kionans.wordpress.com/ans/



CASE STUDY: MIUR and CINECA – Student Observatory


Common requirements

lightweight and easy to implement with a very low technical threshold

able to accommodate and support domestic and European learning systems structures

multilingual

adhere to technological best-practices

interoperability with existing standards

extensibility for specific requirements

either fit existing business processes or enable business process improvement

adhere to relevant national and European legislation

Documents

Rome Student Systems and Standards Group Sharing Perspectives for the Rapid Development of Standards for Course Description and Curriculum Data Dublin,