EUROPLAT European Network for Psychology Learning & Teaching

Transcription

1 EUROPLAT European Network for Psychology Learning & Teaching Progress Report Public Part LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA

2 Project information Project acronym: Project title: Project number: Sub-programme or KA: Project website: EUROPLAT European Network for Psychology Learning and Teaching LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA ERASMUS Reporting period: From 01/10/2009 To 28/02/2011 Report version: 1 Date of preparation: 01/01/2011 Beneficiary organisation: University of York Project coordinator: Annie Trapp Project coordinator organisation: University of York Project coordinator telephone number: Project coordinator address: a.trapp@psych.york.ac.uk This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein Copyright Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency. The document may be freely copied and distributed provided that no modifications are made, that the source is acknowledged and that this copyright notice is included LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 2 / 18

3 Executive Summary This report outlines the progress made by the 32 departmental partners in the Europlat Academic Network from the launch of the Europlat project in October 2009 to the halfway point in March Europlat is the European psychology learning and teaching network which has been formed to enhance the learning and teaching of psychology across the higher education sector of Europe through research, shared good practices, news about the discipline and the establishment of national and trans-european networks. The primary aim is to develop and support a high quality education for psychology students who will in turn be the European professionals of tomorrow. The psychological sciences have relevance to all European citizens providing an understanding of human behaviour in society, the workplace, education and the home. During the first 18 months the core partners have met every six months to hold project management meetings; 4 Europlat newsletters have been published online and distributed to all partners; there has been an annual meeting of all partners at the Europlat Conference in Edinburgh in June 2010; and the first of three research reports has been published entitled Innovation in the teaching of psychology in higher education in the EU. Project Methodology Europlat is built around six inter-related working areas: project management; quality management; academic development and dissemination through three annual conferences; dissemination of information and learning resources through a website, which links the partners into a community of practice; relevant research to psychology teaching; and, exploitation and communication activities. Each working area is led by a different partner so there is a managing structure of six core partners, supported by the other 26 partners. The six core partners are: The University of York (UK), Aston University (UK), Middle East Technical University (Turkey), University of Salzburg (Austria), University of Lisbon (Portugal) and Linnaeus University (Sweden). The University of York is the project management partner and coordinates the network. This project methodology adds value to the project, as Europlat is divided into the six manageable activities, which allows each partner to participate in a specific project component and take ownership of its delivery, thereby strengthening the organisation of the Europlat network. Project Evaluation Europlat holds project management meetings every six months to monitor progress against its expected results and we have employed an independent evaluator to deliver an annual evaluation against measurable quality indicators. Dissemination and Exploitation Strategy There is a lead partner delivering an exploitation plan to support all partners in building their national networks and offering guidance, advice and materials to assist in the dissemination of Europlat to a wide audience. Communication tools are in place to support dissemination and exploitation including newsletters, website, Twitter, Facebook, user groups LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 3 / 18

4 This public report provides the details about each of these activities and describes the additional activities for the second half of the project, namely two more annual conferences scheduled to take place in Istanbul and Lithuania, and the second year and third year research reports, concerning the impact of Bachelor/Masters degrees on psychology education and quality assurance initiatives in psychology education LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 4 / 18

5 Table of Contents 1. PROJECT OBJECTIVES PROJECT APPROACH PROJECT OUTCOMES & RESULTS PARTNERSHIPS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE CONTRIBUTION TO EU POLICIES LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 5 / 18

6 1. Project Objectives Europlat was designed to meet the following objectives of the Lifelong Learning Programme : Encouraging the best use of results, innovative products and processes and to exchange good ideas within the field of psychology teaching and learning Promoting Quality Assurance in the psychology teaching and learning sector across Europe Supporting the development of innovative ICT-based content, services, pedagogy and practice in psychology teaching and learning Promoting creativity, competitiveness, employability and growth of entrepreneurship Reinforcing the contribution of psychological sciences taught in higher education and advanced vocational education to support the wider community and members of the public Supporting the achievement of a European Area of Higher Education Europlat User Groups Europlat is developed to directly and indirectly benefit a number of users: - 32 Project Partners - An expanding group of Associate Partners - Students - Psychological associations - Education and healthcare providers and policy makers - The wider public Europlat is linking the academic community across Europe through a partnership of 32 academic institutions. Other institutions within each European country are encouraged to join as Associate Partners. To date we have attracted over 40 Associate Partners. In addition, the 32 partners all have links to national and international stakeholders, in particular students but also including business professionals, education and healthcare providers and psychology associations. Each of the 32 Europlat partners are interested in developing innovative products and processes and to date have contributed raw data for a research report exploring evidence-informed innovative teaching methods in psychology education; a number of articles for the Europlat Newsletter and presented materials, symposia or conference papers during the first Europlat Annual Conference. All Europlat materials have been published on the project website at In addition, the website supports the exchange of good ideas, services and pedagogy within psychological sciences by providing an online reference source to other websites within the field. Furthermore, the project has a Facebook page and provides Tweets via our Twitter/Europlat account. We are LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 6 / 18

7 encouraging all partners to follow the project on Twitter and Facebook and both of these sources are open to the wider public. Europlat has recognised the popularity of studying psychology and appreciates how students will contribute to wider society, business, education and healthcare if they have learnt to a high standard based on shared good practices from the project network. To date Europlat partners have provided articles to the newsletter on a number of relevant topics including teaching methods, careers guidance, plagiarism, small group teaching as well as linking psychology learning to other disciplines such as management. The project also suggests that the work of the network is supporting the development of the European Higher Education Area and is reinforced by face-to-face meetings between project teams developing different parts of the project and the meeting of all partners at the Annual Conference. These meetings have all allowed the partners to share ideas and take ideas home to individual countries to disseminate nationally. Potential impact and benefits to our target groups We have an ambitious range of target groups but the two main groups are psychology teachers in the higher education area and their students as we recognise that by supporting these two groups we can provide wider benefits to society as a whole and increase the long-term impact of the project. Europlat disseminates information about good practices, new ideas in psychology teaching, advice and guidance to partners in the network who are teaching professionals and who are also able to further disseminate among their own networks. In turn, these psychology teachers and lecturers are able filter the benefit to students through high quality teaching (content and methods). Graduates should provide a more fulfilling impact on the wider community beyond the lifetime of the project. In fact, we expect Europlat to directly contribute, as a result of more effective teaching, to the creation of graduates with a range of transferable skills relevant for the EU economic workforce LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 7 / 18

8 2. Project Approach Summary of the Europlat Project Approach: The following graphic illustrates the structure of Europlat and the approach we are taking to make the project objectives achievable and inclusive to all the partners. The six activities are described below: 1. Project Management: University of York, Aston University, Middle East Technical University, University of Salzburg, University of Lisbon and Linnaeus University. This group is known as the core project management partners. This team publishes the project newsletters and management reports and drives the project forward using a project management methodology based on regular project management meetings and reporting. This team of six partners meet every six months for a project management meeting and share information in a separate dedicated ing list. Each of the six members of the project management team manages one of the project activities, with a team of support from the wider network. This approach provides the added value of a strong link between project management and other project activities and allows for decentralised management and cooperation of the network. Project Management Results to-date The project management team has published the project start up report, which acts as an activity template for the entire Europlat project including a timeline, description of all activities, outputs and expected results and partner directory; 5 newsletters, which keep all partners, associate partners and other interested LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 8 / 18

9 partners up-to-date with project news and provide an open forum for debate and submission of guest articles; and six monthly project management reports, which consist of the minutes of each project management meeting. All these project management results are published on the project website and disseminated to project partners and associate partners through user groups. In addition, these results are sent to the LLP desk. 2. Quality Management: Aston University is leading this work. This team is monitoring the project targets and providing the annual project evaluation. Aston University has formulated a Quality Advisory Board consisting of six members. Each of the core project partners has nominated a member of the Quality Advisory Board. The members are each experts in the field of psychology and include a balanced group of senior staff from the project partner institutions and independent experts. The Quality Board meets twice per year, either remotely or face-to-face to coincide with other Europlat activities, including the Annual Conference. There is a Quality Management report, which consists of the measurable outcomes of the project to guide the Quality Board and to allow them to deliver independent advice they receive all project outputs including project management reports, newsletters and research papers. Finally, the Quality Management Team has commissioned an independent evaluator to deliver an annual evaluation of the project and provide this report to the Board. Quality Management Results to-date The Quality Report was delivered in January 2010, the Quality Board met at the Annual Conference in Edinburgh and held a virtual meeting in January The first independent evaluation was delivered in February Research: Research is led by the University of Lisbon, supported by Aston University, Masaryk University and University of Padova. Aston University managed the research for year 1, which was to capture innovation in psychology education across the EU using a two-part approach. Firstly, a questionnaire was designed and sent to all Europlat partners and the Associate Partners, resulting in 40 replies from 30 countries and, secondly, a literature review of journal articles concerned with innovative learning and teaching in psychology in the EU published in the last five years. The journal list was added to with suggestions made in response to the questionnaire. Research Results to-date: This team has published the Year 1 research report: Innovation in the teaching of psychology in higher education in the EU available from the Europlat website, 4. Website Development Team: The University of Salzburg is leading the website development, supported by a management team from Paris Descartes University, University of Helsinki and Riga University. Website Development Results to-date: LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 9 / 18

10 This team has designed and published the project website, Twitter account and Facebook page. The website includes national information on psychology education for each of the partner countries, a list of network partners and a growing number of links to high quality teaching resources. The development team is also using software to evaluate and monitor the growth of the website including Google Analytics and Webmasterspro. The tools indicate that has received 2500 visits during the first 16 months of the project and is now receiving 240 visits per month. 5. Dissemination Team: The main dissemination activity of the project is for partners to meet and share practice at an Annual Conference each year. Middle East Technical University is leading the main dissemination work, supported by the project management team with several other partners allocated specific roles to review conference papers. All partners are invited to the conference. In Year 1, the Annual Conference took place at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, in coordination with the PLAT Conference. The University of York led the management of the first conference and METU managed the peer review of conference submissions. Results to date: Within the budget of the project, each partner was entitled to two free places at the conference. Out of 32 partners, 30 partners were represented, consisting of 59 people. 6. Exploitation Team: Linnaeus University has led this team and published a marketing plan for all partners to use (called the Exploitation Plan). All 32 partners have been encouraged to distribute dissemination materials nationally to interested organisations including other university psychology departments, national bodies and student groups. Linnaeus University was also supported by the University of York, which designed a leaflet for all partners to distribute to potential Associate Partners. Results to date: Through the efforts of the Europlat partners the number of Associate Partners has increased from 30 to LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 10 / 18

11 3. Project Outcomes & Results Regular Project Newsletters There are 3 newsletters published per year (available from These are aimed at the 32 partners and associate partners, although all partners are encouraged to circulate each edition among their own networks and, during the lifetime of the project, we expect the newsletter to be widely disseminated to students, psychological associations, employers groups and trade unions. The newsletter is also given to the LLP desk at the European Commission and published on the project website. Impact of the project newsletters on target group The main target group of the newsletter is Europlat partners and associate partners. The first newsletter was a short four-sided A4 document written exclusively by the University of York and distributed to the 31 other Europlat partners. As evidence of the impact of the newsletter each subsequent edition has been larger with the latest edition 8 pages long featuring contributor articles from different partners about developments in psychology, advice, news and shared developments. It has been distributed to all partners and associate partners. To date the newsletters have received 17 contributions and articles from the following partners: Aston University University of Heidelberg University of Cyprus Middle East Technology University University of Liechtenstein University of Malta University of York Zeeland University University of Bucharest University of Iceland University of Greece Masaryk University University of Salzburg Adam Mickiewicz University Year 1 Research report: Innovation in the teaching of psychology in higher education in the EU Europlat partners and associates were surveyed and 40 replies were received from 30 countries. Estimated use of e-learning and other technologies including e-books and journals, virtual learning environments, lecture recording, plagiarism detection, laboratory simulation and virtual world software is reported. A focus on the teaching of theory, key findings and research methods and on academic skills such as critical evaluation and academic writing emerged. Innovation is driven by rising numbers, technical change, and the need to find research time, but is also rooted in care for students academic, personal and professional development. A thematic review of recent publications about the learning and teaching of psychology was also carried LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 11 / 18

12 out and 56 articles, mainly from two specialist journals, were identified generating 120 codings to 16 themes. Results are discussed in relation to the changing higher education context and implications for the future importance of quality in learning and teaching are considered. The research report is available on line at Impact of the research report on target group: The research report provides a valuable addition to the body of knowledge for psychology educators and will be disseminated beyond Europe. It provides a focus for psychology in higher education to identify solutions to problem areas within psychology education, the exchange of innovative curricula and teaching practice thereby addressing obstacles to knowledge transfer in light of the Lisbon goals, whilst formalising long-term links between the project partners to promote a strong and sustainable network. Year 1 Europlat Annual Conference Out of our total of 32 partners, representatives from 30 attended the first Europlat Annual Conference. This included 58 participants. All partners presented a poster on the teaching of psychology in their country and these are now available on the Europlat website. The event was combined with another event, the PLAT Conference, which takes place in the UK every two years and thus increased the exposure of the Conference to an additional 90 participants. Impact of the Annual Conference on the Target Group The conference provided some participants in the Europlat project with their first exposure to the project, provided the first meeting of similar like minded psychology academics and professionals and allowed for an exchange of knowledge and ideas. Linking Europlat Results to the Objectives The Europlat network is providing a platform for all of our partners to communicate, learn and provide information about psychology learning and teaching. In doing this the project is directly responding to our original objectives and the following table summaries some of our direct results: Objective Linking the academic community across Europe with innovative research, web based tools and media to exchange good practice to make European psychology the best in the world Results so far Completed research into innovative teaching methods in psychology Regular newsletters providing advice, guidance and examples of good practice in psychology teaching Use of social media including Facebook, Twitter and websites to reach new audiences Increased shared understanding about psychology education across the European Union LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 12 / 18

13 Bringing together a network of highly experienced psychology professionals Developing an ICT resource of a web portal to provide partners and wider community including students, researchers and citizens with more information about psychology Promoting growth of the popular undergraduate subject of psychology across Europe by providing a higher quality of learning and greater awareness of competencies Designing products and communication tools to show how innovation can help graduates and professionals develop better services for the public Supporting the achievement of a European Higher Education Area To improve the quality of multilateral cooperation between higher education institutions The Europlat Network has grown from the original 32 partners to now include 46 associate partners and their constituents. The project is also attracting interest from outside the European Union. The project website has been published which includes partner country pages and links to other resources. The partners have shared examples of good practice in teaching and careers guidance across the network Aston University has led a research report concerning innovative teaching methods in psychology education within the partner countries Partners have shared their existing innovation practices such as good careers guidance Europlat has a range of communication tools Europlat results to date are supporting closer cooperation in Europe. Partners are undertaking project research and independent research based on links within the network Training materials, curricula and other guidance is available online The Europlat network has introduced 32 institutions, some for the first time, at face to face meetings and through online communication links The network has user groups so that each partner can instantly contact each of the others LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 13 / 18

14 All partners have been provided with all contact details for all other partners to communicate directly The Annual Conferences are each taking place in a different geographic area of Europe: Western Europe, Southern Europe and Baltic/North Eastern Europe in an effort to distribute cooperation and activity multilaterally Different partners have shared different parts of the Europlat work to provide varied ownership of different outputs and allow wider cooperation between different institutions LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 14 / 18

15 4. Partnerships By having a network covering 31 countries Europlat is an important international grouping to support wide ranging research and dissemination relating to psychology education. This has supported the project in several specific ways: There is a large group of institutions for sampling, research and dissemination The partnership takes in 31 countries and is further supported by Associate Partners in Croatia, Macedonia, Israel, USA and Australia, which immediately provide transnational inputs and access to wider audiences The network is enabling partners to come together at meetings, conferences and online to identify effective practice and share resources with the goals of improving the quality of psychology education, at regional, national and international levels through a) establishing an evidence-informed knowledge base for psychology educators and b) creating the foundations for a growing community of practice around psychology education. Within Europe, this partnership is allowing the sharing of good practices and new concepts in psychology across all the partner countries. This supports the development of enhanced learning and teaching, raising quality and supporting the Lisbon Agenda of developing the European Higher Education Area. Each activity is being delivered by a number of partners from different countries, which provides a transnational perspective and incorporates a range of cultural influences and styles of working. Outside of the Europlat Project, some partners have been cooperating on separate initiatives showing added value of the network. For example: University of Lisbon, Portugal and University of Tromsø, Norway have used the project as a springboard to develop closer links to undertake a survey on teaching Research Methods in Psychology across Europe University of Salzburg, Austria and University of Heidelberg, Germany have undertaken research together into Didactics of Psychology A University of Ljubljana call for ideas for its International conference Development of Higher Education Management Systems & Graduates Employability, taking place at the University of Ljubljana, end of September, 2012 with a preparatory event at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in September, Attending the Lithuanian Psychology Annual Meeting LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 15 / 18

16 5. Plans for the Future Europlat will continue to deliver the outstanding project activities. These are: The year 2 research report: Employability of post Bologna Bachelor Masters graduates. Research has been taking place since the beginning of the project, involving all Europlat partners and associates in samples with the goal of investigating the developments in European psychology education following the Bologna Agreement. A year 3 research report investigating Quality Assurance initiatives in the field of psychology teaching to raise standards. Research activities for the year 3 report are expected to begin during the second half of year 2 of the project and will involve surveys of all partners and include specific research workshops taking place when all partners meet during the annual conference in Istanbul (year 2). Ongoing newsletters. Every 4 months the University of York continues to publish the project newsletter for all partners and interested external groups, which provides the latest news on the project, reminders to partners, broader issues, news and developments in the field. The year 2 Europlat Annual Conference taking place in July to coincide with the European Congress of Psychology in Istanbul The Year 3 Europlat Annual Conference will take place in Lithuania. The exact format for this event is still to be confirmed as it may provide a forum for the wider psychological community within Europe, specifically raising the profile of psychological sciences in the Baltic region. In Year 2 and Year 3, the project will employ an independent evaluator to establish the completion of activities against the milestones described in the Quality Report LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 16 / 18

17 6. Contribution to EU policies Europlat is meeting the general objective of the Lifelong Learning Programme and specifically the needs of the Erasmus programme to improve higher education through curriculum development, raising quality standards and making education relevant to business and industry in the public and private sectors (notably health care, teaching and human resource development). When Europlat was under development a needs analysis within partner countries revealed considerable diversity of curricula, learning outcomes, educational approaches, staff development opportunities, quality assurance and quality enhancement mechanisms across psychological sciences education in Europe creating inequalities in student learning experiences and subsequent problems for student and staff mobility and graduate employment. Now, through the links between Network partners, Europlat is promoting educational innovation in the psychological sciences and aligning teaching methodologies with the goals of lifelong learning in Europe, to be more responsive to the needs of learners and to support the increase in number and diversity of students. Europlat is providing a focus for innovation in psychology education and teaching standards thereby reducing the obstacles to knowledge transfer in light of the Lisbon goals. It will also promote a strong and sustainable network contributing to the innovation and enhanced quality of Bachelor and Master degrees leading to the improved quality of graduates and teaching staff within the partner countries. EUROPLAT is a new development in European psychology and is enabling psychology educators to share new ideas which will lead to improving the quality of learning at regional, national and international levels. It is providing support infrastructure and useful resources for those developing and using psychology curricula post Bologna thereby increasing the quality of new BA/MA degrees by sharing best practices, creating new partnerships to facilitate greater mobility of students, staff and graduates LLP UK-ERASMUS-ENWA 17 / 18

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