Curriculum Reform Plan

Transcription

1 AGRIVOC TEMPUS PROJECT Curriculum Reform Plan GENERAL INFORMATION: Institution: College of Agriculture and Food Technology Prokuplje Country: Serbia Study program to be reformed: Fruit Growing and Viticulture Person responsible for completing the form: Sasa Milosavljevic and phone number of the contact person: Tel. 069/ SECTION A: CURRICULUM STRUCTURE Write a few words about the study program and its basic characteristics (total number of subjects, number of subjects per academic year, subject category (compulsory, elective, etc.)). Basic vocational study program Fruit Growing and Viticulture lasts 3 years (6 semesters). The course comprises 32 monosemestral subjects 26 compulsory and 6 elective subjects. In the first year of studies students have 10 subjects, while in the second and third year of studies there are 22 subjects (11 subjects per academic year). Electives could be chosen from a total of 12 subjects students are supposed to choose 2 electives in the fourth, fifth and sixth semester respectively. This study program comprises 4 core subjects (21 ECTS), 13 vocational subjects (79 ECTS) and 15 applied subjects (80 ECTS), which makes a total of 180 ECTS. Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 1

2 Explain what changes you are planning to make within the structure of the curriculum in the process of curriculum reform and why (introducing new subjects/omitting some of the existing subjects, merging/splitting subjects, subject category change, introduction of practical training course and other different types of studies, etc.) Changes in the structure of the curriculum will be made through a process which involves improving the quality and scope of vocational practice through the implementation of practical training and vocational practice during the holidays, as well as part of the laboratory exercises. Changes will also be made in the content of applied subjects in the domain of laboratory exercises and other types of teaching methods up to 20%, and in accordance with the standards of the Commission for Accreditation and Quality Control. There will be certain changes in the scoring process of the pre-examination activities, i.e. an increase in the number of exercises which develop vocational and practical competence, and which will reflect the mastery over certain skills. Explain what activities (forms of student engagement) make the total student workload within this study program. Please express the estimated workload in the number of hours. Explain the way in which this issue will be considered in the process of curriculum reform. The total student workload includes time spent attending lectures, practical exercises, and other different types of teaching, as well as the implementation of practical training and vocational practice and commitment to mastering the curriculum content which is composed of compulsory and elective subjects. The total workload is 40 hours of active learning per week. Curriculum reform implies reducing students activity in mastering the curriculum. In applied subjects, there will be a change concerning pre-examination activities - instead of writing a seminar paper; students will be assessed on their practical knowledge. The goal is to increase student engagement in the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills in the organization and implementation of agricultural operations in fruit and vine production. Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 2

3 Explain the current distribution of ECTS credits and how it was made. Explain what changes you are planning to make in the distribution of ECTS credits, and how those changes will reflect on the distribution of ECTS credits. The current allocation of ECTS credits is defined by the number of subjects and the time needed in order to achieve expected learning outcomes for a specific subject. ECTS credits are allocated on the basis of total student engagement: total number of hours of active teaching and total number of hours of individual student work. In some core and vocational subjects, there are a relatively high number of ECTS credits. There is a need to increase the number of ECTS credits in vocational and applied subjects, which is in accordance with the improvement of student competencies to effectively carry out the processes in primary agricultural production. Curriculum changes may not significantly affect the allocation of ECTS credits, since each academic year and semester have been already defined. It is only possible that, within the same semester, there should come to some changes in the number of ECTS credits between certain subjects, but the total sum remains unchanged. SECTION B: SUBJECT STRUCTURE AND CONTENT Explain whether you are going to change the structure and content of the subjects and what kind of changes you are going to make (specify the changes for each particular subject) The structure and content of the subjects will be changed within the limit of 20% (for applied and vocational subjects), in order to increase and improve the level of practical training and vocational competencies of the students. Changes will be made to the following subjects: Меchanization in Plant Production, General Fruit Growing, Plantation Establishment of Fruit Trees and Vines, Apiculture, General Viticulture, Raw Materials, Practical Training, Applied Viticulture, Weed Connoisseurship and Control, Applied Fruit Growing, Organization of Agricultural Production, Fruit and Grape Processing Technology and Vocational Practice. Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 3

4 SECTION C: COMPETENCIES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES Explain what measures you will take towards improving the competencies of students. In what way did you analyze the quality of learning outcomes and acquired competencies and what did you conclude? There will be an attempt to increase practical competencies of the students; to enable them to implement the acquired knowledge and skills in primary agricultural production. This means that the expertise of graduate students bill be improved, so that they could be actively involved in the process of fruit and vine production. Students will be able to organize certain fruit and vine production on their own farms. The survey of employers shows that College graduates possess sufficient theoretical knowledge, but their practical competence is not sufficient, so it is necessary to increase the proportion of practical knowledge in the overall competency of the students. Did you (and to what extent) take into consideration comments and recommendations from employers? Explain how the reformed curriculum will ensure permanent participation of employers in the quality assurance of the curriculum and the teaching process. The feedback from employers is received through a survey which the College carries out at the end of each academic year. After the process of self evaluation is carried out, the survey results are being analyzed and concrete measures are being taken, in order to increase the competence of the College graduates. Cooperation with the labor market is realized through the information on the number of graduates employed in the current year. Increase in the number of hours of the vocational practice with potential employers will provide a greater impact of the employer on the acquisition of necessary practical knowledge and skills for self-inclusion of the graduates in the process of primary agricultural production. Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 4

5 SECTION D: PRACTICAL TRAINING AND OTHER TEACHING METHODS Give a short description of the practical training course that students attend within this study program. Mention main characteristics of the practical training course (duration, whether it is compulsory or not, where and how it is performed, student participation, mentoring, assessment, etc.). What knowledge/skills do students acquire and develop in this way? Is the labor market (and employers) involved into the organization and realization of the practical training course? Vocational practice is compulsory and it is implemented under the mentorship in those agricultural companies with which the College concluded an agreement on business and technical cooperation. It lasts 135 hours (3 45 hours), and it is implemented during the summer holidays. It involves work, production and organizational part in which students actively participate in the implementation of certain technological operations. Practice mentor is usually the head of the study program, although any professor of vocational or applied subjects could be a mentor, too. Students do not get a grade in vocational practice, but it is awarded 3 ECTS. During the implementation of vocational practice, students acquire knowledge in the field of primary agricultural production, they perform certain agricultural operations, and they participate in the implementation of the production process and the organization and control of the execution of certain agricultural operations. Employers can participate in the organization of vocational practice in the way that they could offer a possibility to implement vocational training in their fields with adequate material resources necessary for the implementation of certain agricultural operations. Explain what changes and innovations (concerning practical training) you are planning to make/introduce within this study program. How will these reforms affect the whole curriculum? In the first place, the number of hours of vocational practice will be increased. In the second place, laboratory exercises and practical exercises will also undergo some changes, in order to increase student competence in mastering the skills necessary for the qualitative participation in the process of primary fruit and vine production. These changes will have a positive impact on the curriculum as a whole. The number of ECTS credits and the subject content will be changed within the standard limits of the Commission for Accreditation and Quality Control. Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 5

6 Explain what other teaching methods make an integral part of this curriculum (or, maybe they are not officially part of the curriculum, but they are usually used). Explain what changes you will make in this teaching area (introducing new teaching methods, omitting/shortening the existing methods, changing teaching methods, etc.). Other teaching methods include visits to agricultural fairs, fruit and vine farms, and visits to many economic entities engaged in primary fruit and vine production. The aim is to enable students to gain practical knowledge outside the College premises and to carry out these practical activities at the experimental plots, both within the College Education Center in Prokuplje and in other agricultural firms and farms. It involves a change in the content, form and methods of the practical training implementation, in order to achieve high levels of student proficiency. The plan is to implement and promote active participation of the students in performing and organizing the activities where they could be included as event planner assistants, promoters, sub-organizers, etc. These activities should be directed towards a faster and stronger connection of the students with all the aspects related to agricultural production. Explain how this reform will contribute to the strengthening of the entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurial mindset among students. The planned change process will enable graduates to gain self confidence and experience which will help them to, based on their acquired knowledge and skills, organize the process of fruit and vine production on their own farms. It will also have a positive effect on the strengthening of the entrepreneurial spirit and mindset among students. The role of the mentor is to, based on his/her own commitment and acquired knowledge and skills, give a recommendation to their students in order to find a job with the potential employers. SECTION E: PARTICIPANT ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION ANALYSIS Explain the way in which you are going to formally evaluate the changes (accreditation/licensing done at the state level or internal validation process done at the College level). Who are the main participants in the process of curriculum reform /curriculum validation at the College level, whose participation is important in the implementation of the reform in any way or at any stage (from changes within the Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 6

7 curriculum/subjects to validation process of those changes)? Explain the potential risks and how you are planning to prevent them. The planned changes are going to be formally validated through the internal validation process at the College level. The participants in the curriculum reform are students and teachers from the College, and representatives from various economic entities and the National Employment Service of Serbia. The validation procedure is being performed by the Teaching Council of the College. The potential risks to the implementation of the curriculum reform are lack of motivation of the teaching staff, passivity of economic entities and non-existence of the national qualifications framework. The plan is to raise the quality of teaching, connecting with the economic entities, and active participation in the creation of educational strategies. In that way, the preconditions for equal participation of the graduates in the process of primary agricultural production are going to be made. SECTION F: TIMELINE OF THE ACTIVITIES Please give an estimate of the period of time in which the curriculum reform will be implemented in the way planned in this document and how long, in your opinion, the process of validation will take. Mention (in chronological order) the most important steps which you will take to reform the curriculum of this study program (and which you have already described in detail in previous sections of this document). The plan is to finish the curriculum reform before the enrolment period in June 2014, so that those students who enroll at the College in the 2014/2015. Academic year will attend lectures of the reformed study program. The steps in the curriculum reform are going to be carried out successively and in accordance with the possibilities and circumstances. Thanks for your cooperation! Plan reforme kurikuluma Str. 7