LEARNING OUTCOMES AND THE EUROPEAN QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK IN HIGHER EDUCATION - ICEBERG, PLAGUE OR OPPORTUNITY? OPINIONS FROM EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA) started in 1999 with the Bologna declaration, whereas the development of the European Qualifications Framework EQF started in 2005 (including the creation of National Qualifications Frameworks referring to the EQF). The two frameworks clearly have similarities and overlapping areas. The Learning Outcomes (LO) approach may serve as bridge is to avoid the development of two isolated frameworks.

The research project UNILO thus intends to explore the Learning Outcomes approach in the frame of EQF/EHEA contributing to its full understanding and application by promoting the active involvement of the Career services of the Universities helping the huge target group of European University students and holders of professional qualifications to better understand its potential in a clear and practical way.

The project outcomes have been designed following a conceptual framework in which the objectives correspond to the activities to develop and to produce t- amongst others - he following results:
- Survey report to better define the state of the art in LO implementation in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
- Report on the integration seminars carried out to identify criticalities and bottlenecks in the implementation process, containing recommendations for policy, practice and research.

The presentation will summarise the results of the online survey addressing university professionals and students in Europe and thus it will present a comprehensive picture of the awareness for the concepts mentioned above; in addition, the outcomes of the national seminars with experts will be presented.

UNILO anticipates considerable impact on Universities across Europe as it has been specifically designed to fill a gap among the existing networks and initiatives by focusing not simply on the EQF/EHEA from a Learning outcomes perspective but more concretely on designing and implementing tools to help the guidance officers to clarify, better understand and raise awareness to the wide audience of students and holders of professional qualifications.