Nedenfor følger en alfabetisk liste over centrale engelske uddannelsesbegreber med uddybende forklaringer på engelsk.
Listen er medtaget for at give en bredere referenceramme til nogle af de ord og begreber, som ofte anvendes i internationalt uddannelsessamarbejde. Listen er udarbejdet på grundlag af følgende kilder:
- EU-kommissionen vejledningsmateriale med tilhørende ordlister til udarbejdelse af Diploma Supplement.
- EU-Kommissionens ECTS User Guide.
- Report on a Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area, December 2004.
ACADEMIC RECOGNITION refers to the recognition of courses, qualifications or diplomas from one (domestic or foreign) higher education institution by another. Usually this is sought as a basis for access to further new study at the second institution (cumulative recognition) or, as recognition allowing some sort of exemption from having to re-study elements of a programme (recognition with advanced standing). A further type of academic recognition is recognition of studies taken elsewhere in another institution (recognition by substitution) that replace a comparable period of study at the home institution (see PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION).
ACCESS (to higher education) refers to the right of qualified candidates to apply and be considered for admission to higher education. Access is distinct from admission, which concerns the individuals’ actual participation in the higher education programme concerned.
ACCREDITATION is the process by which one higher education institution gains authority to award, and/or gains recognition of, its qualifications from another senior competent authority. This might be the State, a government agency or, another domestic or foreign higher education institution (see FRANCHISE). The term has its origins in the American system and is used in some European countries in the same way as ‘recognition’.
ADMISSION the act of, or system for, allowing qualified applicants to pursue studies in higher education at a given institution and/or a given programme.
ASSESSMENT i) (of institutions or programmes) the process for establishing the educational quality of a higher education institution or programme; ii) (of individual qualifications) the written appraisal or evaluation of an individual’s foreign qualifications by a competent authority; iii) (of individual students) the actual testing of a student’s ability and skills within a programme (e.g. by examination).
AWARD is synonymous with qualification.
COHORT the group of students that started a particular degree programme in the same year is known as a cohort.
COMPETENCES represent a dynamic combination of attributes, abilities and attitudes. Fostering these competences is the object of educational programmes. Competences are formed in various course units and assessed at different stages. They may be divided in subject-area related competences (specific to a field of study) and generic competences (common to any degree course).
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT refers to the situation where assessment as described above takes place within the normal teaching period and contributes to the final assessment.
CONVERGENCE involves the voluntary adoption of suitable policies for the achievement of a common goal. Convergence in the architecture of national educational systems is pursued in the Bologna process.
COURSE a part of a programme of studies that is normally self-contained and assessed separately. Complete study programmes are normally composed of several courses.
COURSE UNIT or MODULE is a self-contained, formally structured learning experience.
CREDENTIAL a term sometimes used to refer to a qualification (see QUALIFICATION).
CREDENTIAL EVALUATOR the individual who makes a judgement on the recognition of foreign qualifications.
CREDIT the ‘currency’ providing a measure of learning outcomes achieved in a notional time at a given level. Usually associated with credit-based modular courses (see ECTS).
CREDIT ACCUMULATION in a credit accumulation system a specified number of credits must be obtained in order to complete successfully a semester, academic year or a full study programme, according to the requirements of the programme. Credits are awarded and accumulated only when the successful achievement of the required learning outcomes is confirmed by assessment.
CREDIT LEVEL is an indicator of the relative demands of learning and of learner autonomy. It can be based on the year of study and/or on the type of course content (for example, Basic/Advanced/Specialised). Not all credit systems have level indicators.
CYCLE is a course of study leading to an academic degree. One of the objectives indicated in the Bologna Declaration is the “adoption of a system based on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate.” Doctoral studies are now generally referred to as the third cycle.
DIPLOMA refers to any formally awarded qualification/credential. In some educational systems the term refers to a specific category or type of qualification.
DOCTORATE or DOCTORAL DEGREE a high level qualification which is internationally recognised as qualifying someone for research or academic work may be designated as a doctorate or doctoral degree. It will include a substantial amount of original research work which is presented in a thesis. It generally refers to the degree awarded after completion of third cycle studies. ECTS the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (developed by the European Commission). This is a system based on ECTS credits (student workload), designed to facilitate mobility, credit accumulation and transfer, and the international recognition of periods of study completed abroad.
ECVET the European Credit Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training
EXAMINATION (EXAM) the term examination normally refers to a formal written and/or oral test taken at the end of a course unit or module or later in the academic year. Other assessment methods are also in use. Tests within the course unit or module are classed as continuous assessment if they contribute to the final assessment.
FIRST DEGREE a first cycle qualification, as defined by the Bologna Declaration is normally awarded after successful completion of a minimum of three years of higher education or 180 ECTS credits.
FRANCHISE the situation where an institution agrees to authorise another institution (nationally or internationally) to deliver an approved programme whilst normally retaining overall control of the programme’s content, delivery, assessment and quality assurance arrangements. However, significant variations in franchise relationships exist.
FIELD OF STUDY the main disciplines or subject areas of a qualification.
GRADUATE STUDIES programmes of study undertaken after completion of a first degree and which normally leads to a second cycle degree.
HIGHER EDUCATION applies to programmes of study that may be entered by students holding either an appropriate school leaving certificate from an upper secondary school after, in general, twelve years of schooling or other relevant professional qualifications or other approved prior learning and/or prior experience. Providers may be universities, universities of professional studies, higher education institutions, colleges, polytechnics etc.
LEARNING OUTCOMES the specific intellectual and practical skills gained and tested by the successful completion of a unit, course or whole programme of study.
MARK a mark is any numerical or qualitative measure within a well-defined scale used to describe the results of assessment in an individual course unit.
MODULE a separate and coherent block of learning. Part of a modular programme of studies where the curriculum is divided into a range of similar sized segments.
POSTGRADUATE STUDIES are studies done after completion of a first degree, May also be called graduate studies (US). Typical postgraduate studies are master and Ph.D. programmes or postgraduate diploma programmes.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION refers to the right to practise and the professional status accorded to a holder of a qualification. In the European Union recognition for professional purposes is defined as the legal act by which a competent authority in a host Member Staterecognises that the qualifications obtained by an applicant in another Member State are suitable for the pursuit on its territory of a professional activity whose practice is legally regulated.
QUALIFICATION i) higher education qualification: any degree, diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of a higher education programme; ii) qualification giving access to higher education: any diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of an education programme and giving the holder of the qualification the right to be considered for admission to higher education
QUALITY ASSURANCE refers to the internal and external processes by which the quality of academic provision is maintained.
QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK/FRAMEWORK OF QUALIFICATIONS a single description, at national level or level of an education system, which is internationally understood and through which all qualifications and other learning achievements may be described and related to each other in a coherent way and which defines the relationship between the qualifications.
RECOGNITION (of an educational qualification) a formal acknowledgement by a competent authority of the value of a foreign educational qualification with a view to access to educational and/or employment activities. An assessment of individual qualifications. Such assessment may be any kind of statement on the value of (in this case) a foreign qualification. Recognition refers to a formal statement by a competent recognition authority acknowledging the value of the qualification in question and indicating the consequences of this recognition for the holder of the qualification. For example a qualification may be recognised for the purposes of further study at a given level (academic recognition), or for the use of a title, or for the exercise of employment purposes (professional recognition). Recognition can also refer to the accreditation of a higher education institution by another authority (see ACCREDITATION).
REGULATED PROFESSION refers to professions whose practice is regulated in some way by law or administrative rules. A given profession may be regulated in one country and not in another.
SECOND DEGREE is a higher education qualification awarded after the successful completion of second cycle studies and may involve some research work. A student normally takes it after completion of a first degree.
STUDY PROGRAMME/PROGRAMME OF STUDY a set of courses, the various components of which complement and build on each other in order to provide the student with a higher education qualification. ‘Programme’ also denotes the academic fields of study and requirements that collectively define the qualification (see FIELD OF STUDY).
THESIS a formally presented written report, based on independent research work, which is required for the award of a degree (generally second degree or doctorate).
TRANSCRIPT an official record or breakdown of a student’s progress and achievements. Many credit-based education systems employ detailed transcripts that show the credits and grades for units undertaken (e.g. ECTS Transcript of Records).
TUTORIAL is a period of instruction given by a tutor aimed at exploring in greater depth, revising and discussing material and topics presented within a course unit or module.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES are defined as those normally carried out prior to the award of a first degree.
VALIDATION the process by which a recognised awarding institution judges that a programme of study leading to a qualification is of appropriate quality and standard. This can be a programme of its own or that of a subordinate institution (see FRANCHISE).