Quality Assurance in Key Competency Options

The quality assurance tools used in relation to key competencies depend on the supplier facilities of the key competency modules. There are three cornerstones to the key competency options of the University of Göttingen:

Subject and/or Faculty Key Competency Options

Subject and/or Faculty Key Competency Options

The Key Competency Strategy (PDF, German,56,1 KB) of the University of Göttingen provides for the individual degree programmes and/or subjects to formulate a tailor-made Key Competency Strategy from which they derive their basic offer (imports also possible here). They also state the primary careers the degree programmes are designed for, and set up appropriate offerings appropriate to the content of the profile and level of the degree programme and that meet the above-mentioned quality criteria. It is at the same time possible for degree programmes with related content and that are designed for similar careers to develop a joint Key Competency Strategy and shared key competency options. The key competency options should increase the job opportunities of graduates in the careers for which the degree is designed. Therefore they should respond flexibly to changing conditions and demands of the jobs market.

Furthermore the key competency options should cover various areas of competence and give students the greatest possible choice to shape their personal profile. However, the subjects/degree programmes formulate recommendations for their students as to which key competencies are advisable for specific careers and offer guidance for career planning. Faculties especially promote the social and civic engagement of students with their key competency options (e.g. with modules on working on the student and academic council or Service Learning opportunities), insight into professional practice (e.g. industrial traineeships) as well as subject-related skills and languages (e.g. IT applications for Chemistry students, introduction to English/French legal terminology) where they are not offered by central providers.

Degree-specific Key Competency Strategiesare presented to the Central Committee for Teaching and Learning and if approved are then gradually implemented over a period of four years. Guidance is also available centrally on the development and management of degree programme and/or subject-specific concepts. The person in charge of key competencies at Student and Academic Services and the management of the Centre for Languages and Key Competencies consult on the content as well as the structure of integrative and additive offerings. Teachers in the area of key competencies can obtain training from Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Services are demand-led and tailored to meet individual needs. Each academic year the central institutions send the faculties usage figures for each faculty’s students.

The strategy of the degree programmes is continuously developed and subjected to quality reviews with the help of the following tools. The standard course evaluations also cover the key competency options. The faculties are responsible for ensuring that the results of the evaluations of the key competency offering are included in ongoing development. Results of course evaluations from central institutions’ modules which are critical to the teaching programme are made available to the relevant Deans of Studies for reference. The faculties provide opportunities for students to make suggestions for improvement of the offerings in the faculties and the central institutions (e.g. by establishing a contact or conducting a student survey). The faculties analyse the results obtained from the survey of graduates so as to draw conclusions about the structure of the Key Competency Strategies. The results of employer surveys which are carried out independently by the faculties are also used to check the relevance of the key competency options to the jobs market. Advice may also be obtained from the Career Service.

Individual Subject’s Interfaculty Key Competency options

Each subject and/or degree programme may open up aspects of other subjects to those subjects’ students and may be suitable as key competencies for the University-wide offering under the above criteria. It is hereby possible to favour subjects with related content where limited places are available.

The general digital catalogue of the interfaculty offering is managed centrally and the faculties have the option of giving the person with responsibility for key competencies at Student and Academic Services feedback and suggestions about the interfaculty key competency options. In addition, the person with responsibility for key competencies at Student and Academic Services regularly carries out a quantitative assessment of the use and situation of the interfaculty key competency modules on offer.

The new module register of interfaculty key competency options released each semester is presented to the Central Committee for Teaching and Learning, which decides which modules should be included. The person with responsibility for key competencies at Student and Academic Services also conducts a preliminary review of the modules, checking the quality criteria for key competency modules, and compiles recommendations for the Committee.

The standard course evaluations also cover the interfacult y key competency options. Every two years, the people with responsibility for course evaluations at Student and Academic Services arrange a separate analysis of the results of the evaluation of interfaculty key competency courses and give it to the faculties.

General Institutions’ Key Competency Options

Various central providers (Centre for Languages and Key Competencies, the University Sports Centre, the E-Learning-Service) provide transdisciplinary key competency options under the umbrella of the Centre for Languages and Key Competencies   (ZESS). Analogously to the faculty modules, the central institutions’ modules are also presented to the Central Committee for Teaching and Learning for quality review. First of all they undergo a quality check by the responsible coordinators, the management of ZESS, the person with responsibility for key competencies at Stu- dent and Academic Services and the ZESS Board.

Centrally offered key competency options currently include:

  • Foreign language modules in Arabic, Chinese, English, Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish (ZESS modules; all UNIcert accredited except Turkish)
  • Modules in the following areas: career transition skills, diversity skills, leadership skills
  • (including project management), communication skills, media skills (including journalistic practice), social skills, learning and personal skills, the Integration Tandem project (ZESS)
  • Computer-aided academic work modules (ZESS-IT)
  • E-Learning-Service modules
  • University Sports Centre modules

 

In addition, the strategy underlying the central key competency options as well as the individual modules is continuously developed and subjected to quality checks using the following tools:

  • The standard course evaluations also cover the central key competency options.
  • The management of ZESS and/or the relevant (central) institutions ensure that the results of the evaluations are incorporated into ongoing development. Furthermore the results of the course evaluations for modules which play an important part in a faculty’s teaching programme are provided to the responsible Office of the Dean of Studies for reference.
  • ZESS gives students the opportunity to make suggestions for improvement of the offerings (e.g. by establishing a contact or conducting a student survey).
  • ZESS analyses the results obtained from the survey of graduates so as to draw conclusions about the structure of the central Key Competency Strategies.
  • The management of ZESS offers the faculties opportunities to give feedback and suggestions about the central key competency options.
  • The person with responsibility for key competencies at the Centre for Languages and Key Competencies regularly carries out a quantitative assessment of the use of the interfaculty key competency modules on offer.
  • The results of employer surveys which are carried out by the faculties are also used to check the relevance of the key competency options to the jobs market.
  • Teachers in the area of key competencies can obtain training from Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Services are demand-led and tailored to meet individual needs.
  • Moreover, ZESS offers teaching staff regular meetings on methods and didactics of teaching, learning and assessment of key competencies.

Key Competency Options Materials

www.uni-goettingen.de/en/192778.html

 

last updated: 22.03.2022 10:24