Ten Years of Bologna: Threats and Opportunities for Students

More than a decade has passed since 29 European countries adopted an ambitious agenda of reforms with the view to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The reforms were intended to harmonize Europe's higher education systems, facilitate mobility and employability of students across the continent, and increase the European dimension in higher education. The process of reform -- known as the Bologna Process, which has since expanded to include the current 47 countries -- has subsequently added to this agenda additional ideals such as equal access to higher education, student-centered learning, and student participation in quality assurance and governance within their institutions.

SELF AND STUDENT EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC STAFF

At the University of Queensland a questionnaire to students for their evaluation of tutors' and lecturers' classroom presentation and classroom management has been in (increasing) use since 1982. The introduction of the evaluation questionnaire and the management of the evaluation system are based on the research lieterature on change. Student evaluations per se do not induce change. However, self evaluations focus staffs attention on their own perception as teachers, and possible discrepancies between self and student evaluation may then motivate staff to change.

Therefore self evaluation has been used in the evaluation of teaching schemesto facilitate change. Overall, there was no relationship between student ratings and staff self ratings on the question, “All things considered, how would you rate this staff member's overall effectiveness as a university teacher?” Both highly and poorly rated lecturers showed large discrepancies between their self perception and student perception. This emphasises the importance of using more than one source of evaluative information for decision makeing. An interview study found that nearly all those evaluated had implemented changes and felt positive about evaluation.




Przykłady ewaluacji z innych uczelni na świecie:


Academic Staff Evaluation Survey Results

Academic Performance Evaluation

Academic Staff Performance Review and Employee Self-Evaluation

Some Advice About Impact

Sarah Reed: ...Almost any funding application requires you to summarize the academic impact of your research, and many take it a step further and ask for the economic and social impact as well...

Barbara Kudrycka: Uczelnie potrzebują konkurencji

Barbara Kudrycka, minister nauki i szkolnictwa wyższego: ...Chciałabym przeprowadzić środowisko naukowe przez reformy w taki sposób, aby czerpiąc z dorobku doświadczonej kadry, tworzyć szanse rozwoju naukowego młodym naukowcom. Zależy mi na uruchomieniu rzeczywistej konkurencji i zmianie panującego na wyższych uczelniach systemu na bardziej otwarty, projakościowy i prorozwojowy, w którym nie wiek się liczy, ale rzeczywisty dorobek i odważne naukowe wyzwania badawcze...

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A wystarczyłoby tak niewiele aby Pani Minister chęci stały się rzeczywistością:

1. znieść habilitację
2.przynajmniej na uczelniach państwowych wymusić zatrudnianie kadry poprzez rzetelne konkursy
3. nie przeszkadzać pojawiającej się konkurencji!

Tylko trzy podstawowe punkty, których zaproponowana reforma nie przewiduje!

Przez kolejne lata media będą donosić właśnie te słowa: Polska nauka i młodzież mają ogromny potencjał, który coraz częściej ujawnia się w międzynarodowych konkursach naukowych.

AHE w rankingu szkół wyższych „Perspektyw”

Akademia Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna w Łodzi atakowana od roku przez Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego we wspólnym (dla publicznych i niepublicznych uczelni wyższych w Polsce) rankingu w Grupach Kierunków Studiów Społecznych znalazła się tuż za ośrodkami uniwersyteckimi!

ROZPRAWA KARNA WS. LIKWIDACJI KIERUNKÓW NA AHE

W dniu dzisiejszym, w Sądzie Rejonowym dla Warszawy Śródmieścia odbędzie się posiedzenie Sądu w przedmiocie rozpoznania zażalenia STOWARZYSZENIA INTERESU SPOŁECZNEGO na postanowienie Prokuratury Rejonowej Warszawa Śródmieście odmawiającej wszczęcia postępowania karnego w sprawie 1 DS. 1368/09 tj. w sprawie o podejrzenie popełnieniu przestępstwa przez Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego w związku z postępowaniem dot. likwidacji kierunku Informatyka i Zarządzanie na Akademii Humanistyczno-Ekonomicznej w Łodzi.

International Senior Research Fellowships

Wellcome Trust funds International Senior Research Fellowships for the most outstanding researchers, either medically or scientifically qualified, who wish to establish an independent career within an academic institution in one of the seven European countries:... Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakian Republic and Slovenia.

International Senior Research Fellowships is subject to competitive rolling scientific review every five years, and renewed awards will be funded on the basis that the Wellcome Trust and the host institution will jointly fund the International Senior Research Fellow's salary through a '50:50' partnership for the duration of any renewal period.

In Person: Studying the Implications of New Medical Technologies

To move research from the bench to the clinic requires an understanding of science-related law, ethics, and policy.

Wendell Fortson, a postdoc at the Center for Genomics and Society at UNC Chapel HillAs a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Genomics and Society (CGS) at UNC Chapel Hill: ...Another reason biomedical scientists may be reluctant to work with social science, bioethical, or legal researchers to explore ELSI issues is the perception that these researchers lack an understanding of “the science” -- and indeed it is difficult for a nonscientist to understand complex genetic mechanisms such as DNA replication, repair and recombination, transcription, translation, and gene expression. That's why scientists must engage ELSI questions; otherwise, nonscientists may establish policies that impede the progress of medical research and development. That is why centers like the CEERs are so important -- and why it's so important for people with scientific backgrounds to get involved in ELSI research.

...I am learning about a range of rapidly evolving ELSI issues and how to approach them from an interdisciplinary perspective. The work requires me to employ the knowledge I gained during my scientific training. My postdoc fellowship allows me to attend law school part time in the evenings; I'm even using my fresh legal knowledge in my ELSI research. I cherish the ability to work remotely, away from the lab, at unconventional hours; no more blankets in the corner of the lab waiting for my experiment to come down. And the leadership at CGS encourages postdocs to pursue independent funding and develop new and innovative projects that address ELSI issues related to genomics. I have established excellent relationships with investigators at UNC Chapel Hill and members of other CEERs....

House Passes America COMPETES Act Amendment to Force Public Universities to Provide Information to Unions

An amendment to the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 5116) that would force public universities with unionized research staffs and COMPETES Act funding to promptly disclose information required for contract negotiations passed the House Wednesday by a vote of 250 to 174. Proposed by George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, the amendment responds to the long delays that have stalled negotiations for a first contract between the University of California and the union representing the UC postdocs. At a hearing about the negotiations held in Berkeley on April 30, Miller probed a claim by UC vice president Dwaine Duckett that the university could not, after a year and a half of talks, provide certain needed employment information about the postdocs.

Universities that do not comply with the amendment's time limits would have to present a convincing explanation or risk losing funding for Facilities & Administration costs until they forked over the required facts. Funding for grants themselves would continue...

New Jersey Institute of Technology Postdocs and Graduate Assistants Form State's Second Postdoc Union

The postdocs and graduate assistants at New Jersey Institute of Technology have joined forces to form a union, the state's second representing postdocs. On May 6, the United Council of Academics at NJIT (UCAN), which represents both groups, filed for certification with the state Public Employees Relations Commission.

Ankieta diagnozująca bariery rozwoju naukowców

Do dnia dzisiejszego nadal można wypełnić anonimową ankietę Rady Młodych Naukowców mającej na celu diagnozowanie barier rozwoju naukowców oraz problemów nauczycieli akademickich w Polsce.

Funding News: 23 April 2010

Research funding
Student and institutional support programs
GrantsNet Express
Deadline Watch
GrantsNet sponsorship