As part of the Hochschulweiterbildung@BW project, EVALAG naturally follows (European) developments and trends in the areas of (higher education) continuing education and lifelong learning with particular attention. Recognition and quality assurance of "micro-credentials", i.e. evidence of learning outcomes and qualifications acquired via short courses or course modules - partly face-to-face, partly hybrid, partly on-site and also at institutions outside the traditional higher education system - is currently a particularly hot topic.
This was also the case at the annual conference of the DGWF (Deutsche Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung und Fernstudium e.V.) held in Berlin from 14 to 16 September 2022 under the title "Jenseits von Bachelor und Master - Innovation in der wissenschaftlichen Weiterbildung". The conference, chaired by Dr Jan Ihwe (University of Freiburg, Project Management Hochschulweiterbildung@BW), took place in person again for the first time after a two-year break due to the pandemic and attracted around 200 participants, who gathered on the Schöneberg campus of the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR) in the east of the city. The most strongly represented group was from Baden-Württemberg: 14 regional and specialist networkers from the Hochschulweiterbildung@BW project alone took part.
For three days, the focus was on the challenges that universities face (also in global competition with private education providers) when they offer the development and implementation of short-format programmes such as micro-degrees and how innovation and diversity in academic continuing education can be made visible through best practice.
From EVALAG's point of view, the panel discussion on the second day, which focussed on the key question "Microdegrees - is this still education or can it go away?", was particularly exciting. There was intensive discussion about the ways in which universities already offer micro-degrees and micro-credentials and how these programmes should be handled in the future in terms of systematic quality assurance, comparability and permeability. On the one hand, smaller formats enable universities to react flexibly and quickly when providing academic input, but on the other hand, the question of quality standards and quality assurance naturally arises.
One workshop was dedicated to the legal framework conditions for certificates and micro-credentials in a country comparison: the results of a corresponding DGWF working group and a concrete example of implementation for the inclusion of certificates in the internal university quality management system were presented here.
A keynote speech by Professor Dr Eva Cendon (holder of the Chair of Adult and Continuing Education at the FernUniversität Hagen) on the topic of "New conditions? Micro-credentials in the context of higher education" rounded off the conference. The need for improved organisational, personnel and financial framework conditions for continuing education was a recurring theme throughout the broad and varied programme of events. Frequently addressed topics included, for example, capacity law, which is often perceived as outdated, and the regulations on teaching load crediting.
Detailed information on the conference programme can be found at
dgwf.net/id-2022.html
At the annual conference of AQ Austria, which took place on 22 September 2022 in Vienna, the main topic "Lifelong learning at universities: viewpoints and perspectives" was discussed. This was prompted by the new legal regulations in Austria, which aim to strengthen universities as places of lifelong learning, create a level playing field for continuing education at all types of higher education institutions and promote permeability in higher education. Closely linked to this is the continuous quality assurance of higher education continuing education.
In her keynote speech, Professor Dr Elena Wilhelm (Head of the Department of Higher Education Sciences at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences) provided the plenum with an overview of the various legal situations in German-speaking countries. The comparison between Austria, Switzerland and Germany showed very impressively how differently the three countries are positioned with regard to the formats currently offered in academic continuing education. The lecturer also identified so-called "modular study programmes" as a challenge, but also a great opportunity in higher education continuing education: On the one hand, these study programmes allow maximum flexibility for students, but on the other hand, they require a high level of counselling from the universities. As part of a topic-specific forum, Dr Jan Ihwe (University of Freiburg, project management of Hochschulweiterbildung@BW) and Milena Müller (EVALAG, sub-project management of the quality seal) had the opportunity to present the Hochschulweiterbildung@BW project as a practical example of the systematic quality assurance of higher education continuing education in Baden-Württemberg.
Detailed information on the conference programme can be found at
www.aq.ac.at/de/veranstaltungen/dokumente-jahrestagung_2022/jahrestagung-2022.php
An ENQA working group with representatives of agencies from 12 European countries, including EVALAG, has been working since the middle of last year on possible approaches to systematic quality assurance of micro-credentials and the experiences already available from various European countries. One of the working group's concerns is to analyse the "Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area" (ESG), which are binding in the European Higher Education Area, in terms of their applicability to mini-courses. Recommendations are to be published before the end of the year, which it is hoped will be incorporated into the upcoming revision of the ESG. The working group's initial findings were presented and discussed online on 27 September 2022. The response was unexpectedly high with more than 300 participants.
Firstly, the working group presented a comprehensive review of the current situation, which revealed that although micro-credentials are in the sights of quality assurance agencies, the specific regulations depend to a large extent on the dissemination and acceptance of micro-credentials in the respective national contexts and the legal requirements, some of which are still under development. Another finding was that, due to the special features of micro-credentials, there are also concerns as to whether the existing internal quality assurance measures at universities can reliably cover the mini-courses.
The event then outlined a number of areas that require additional attention if micro-credentials are to be designed, delivered and reviewed in a way that delivers high quality outcomes and meets the expectations of increasingly diverse learner profiles. Topics of discussion included the appropriateness of ex-ante or ex-post quality assurance, the degree of involvement of industry partners, the concept of an expiry date and the link between quality assurance and recognition practices (including in terms of combination and accumulation possibilities and the transferability of micro-credentials).
The event with all contributions is documented online at:
www.enqa.eu/events/online-dissemination-event-external-quality-assurance-of-micro-credentials-27-september-2022/