The COPYRIGTH of this paper belongs to INEER (for details see www.ineer.org )

 

The References (see at the end) contain links to other papers, Leonardo projects.

 

Quality of EU Leonardo mobility projects university-enterprise

 

 

Authors:

 

Peter Moson, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), H-1521, Budapest, Hungary, moson@bme-tk.bme.hu

Ildikó Varga, International Secondary Grammar School of BME, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary. varga@bme-intl.sulinet.hu

 

 

Abstract ¾ The “Statement of Principles on Quality in Educational Mobility” developed by the European Union (EU) contains detailed recommendations listed in 9 points (Learning plan, Recognition, Preparation, Linguistic preparation and assistance, Mentor, Logistical assistance, Debriefing and evaluation, Assistance with re-integration, Commitments and responsibilities). The paper presents how these principles are applied to the practical placements (of 3 different types: blue collar, technician, engineer) of students, young graduates in some European countries and especially at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME, www.bme.hu). The internships discussed are carried out in the framework of EU Leonardo da Vinci program. BME has been taking part at the Leonardo mobility program since 1999. At this period several hundreds of beneficiaries went to work abroad (minimum length 13 weeks, average is 20 weeks) to an EU country in 11 mobility projects. In 2004 one of these projects was selected to be among the best 5 European higher educational mobility projects. The first author is the Leonardo Institutional Coordinator of BME, a regular participant of ICEE(R) conferences. The second author is the financial coordinator of these projects. Both are active in international cooperation.

 

Index Terms ¾ Internship, international co-operation, quality, valorization.

 

Introduction

 

It is widely accepted that the practical placements play an important role in the higher education, especially in the training of future engineers. The globalization of economy requires more and more international experience. However in many countries only a small part of students take part in this activity at home, and even less abroad. The situation is worse in the 10 states newly entering (in 2004) the European Union (EU). These facts (among others) led the European Union to the creation of the Leonardo da Vinci program, to facilitate, support the professional cooperation of economy – education in the member states. The Leonardo program is in its 2nd phase (2000-2007). It contains different elements: pilot projects, networks etc. This paper mainly concentrates on the mobility projects. The practice of Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME, www.bme.hu) will illustrate the different aspects. There is a quantitative growth of the number of Leonardo placements (e.g. at BME from 8 in 1999, to 105 in 2005), and a parallel increase of quality requirements, methods to stimulate the good practice. The authors present the general European, National etc. elements of quality, and consider their realization in case of BME projects. Some economy-education, international cooperation activities were considered from a different viewpoint in [1]-[7]. The aim of this paper on one hand is to summarize the thinking, activities related to educational mobility, and on the other hand to find new partners to better realize and develop these principles.

 

EU Statement of Principles on Quality in Educational Mobility

 

Following the debates of different European organizations (Council / Commission) in the early 2000 several recommendations were accepted including: “The Commission and the Member States will develop by the end of 2004 a European quality chapter for mobility. This should define a common European set of principles, to be implemented on a voluntary basis, offering the opportunity to build mutual trust between all parties and providing member states with a European context for defining their own policy”. The Mobility Working Group prepared a set of principles as follows (a shortened variant is presented without the detailed description of the individual points in it):

Statement of Principles on Quality in Educational Mobility.

(1) Learning plan, (2) Recognition and transparency, (3) Preparation, (4) Linguistic preparation and assistance, (5) A mentor, (6) Logistical assistance, (7) Debriefing and evaluation, (8) Assistance with reintegration, (9) Commitments and responsibilities.

 

Valorization, a new concept in Educational Mobility

 

Following the setting of the above mentioned quality criteria a new concept started to take shape, the concept of valorization in mobility. The international consultation on this new approach has been initiated at a conference in Oslo on 24-25.01.2005: ”Conference on Valorization and Quality in Mobility”. As the title of the conference suggests, the quality criteria and content of educational mobility can be enriched by aiming at wider-range and sustainable benefits by identifying short- and long-term impacts of the projects on several levels. Consequently, a new element appears among the quality principles, which we will add to the previously listed 9 criteria as (10) Results and benefits. The word valorization may need some explanation, but it seems to become the official word for the new aim, emphasizing the desired long-term impact of educational mobility, especially practical training.

 

Valorization in practice, the possible positive impacts of educational mobility 

 

Educational mobility is generally viewed on the individual’s level. Clearly, its positive impact on the beneficiaries greatly depends on the quality of the mobility. A high quality foreign practical training obviously has long-term results on the individual’s professional and personal development, it improves: (1) Occupational and professional skills and qualifications, (2) Foreign language, communication and intercultural skills, (3) Personal and social skills and competencies. However, we can also identify long-term benefits on institutional or even national level as well. By introducing the concept of valorization these wider impacts come into the spotlight as well. Without defining the goal, these possible impacts become isolated and the opportunities are not necessary explored. The achievement of institutional benefits depends on quality project management, institutional strategies and well-defined cooperation between the project management and other units of the institution. Without completeness we list some possible benefits at the educational institution level: (1) Networking – sharing and exchanging experiences and professional knowledge, (2) Adapting new training methods in the institution, (3) Improving the professional international relations of the institution, (4) Increasing the prestige of the institution. Similarly, we can identify long-term benefits on the other participating institution, on the company’s level as well: (1) Improved human resource management, (2) Closer company-training institution cooperation, which might help to harmonize the training content and the needs of the enterprise, (3) Up-to-date information about current research, (4) Possibility to initiate research at the training institution directly or indirectly. The national level might seem to be very far from an educational mobility, but if these programs get the needed publicity (trough dissemination) then the good practice can reach the level of decision-makers as well. The possible results could be: (1) More practice oriented training programs, (2) Closer links with the world of work, (3) Policy declarations closer to reality, (4) Gaining and building on transnational experiences [8].

 

Quality elements in Hungarian Leonardo Projects

 

Here we will list the steps taken by the management at the BME Leonardo Unit to ensure the quality of international practical placements. Depending on the type of beneficiaries (students at the beginning of their studies, who will work as blue-collar workers or higher year engineering students or even newly graduated young workers) some of the steps might be different, but the main principles are the same. We will follow the previously described quality criteria classification. The first step is to inform the student body about the possibilities. We use several channels for this: There is a constantly updated homepage (www.tudig.bme.hu – Leonardo placements). Information is posted in the Central building and in dormitories of the university, student organizations are informed and the info is posted on electronic mail-groups as well. The teachers of the university are also informed, mainly trough the newsletters of the Office of the International vice-rector and other university publications. This ensures the recognition and transparency of the program at the university. The logistics of the application and selection process is worked out and the conditions are known to everybody. A special element is that every student must have a support letter from a university teacher, which is not only requirement for the selection, but also the first step towards the preparation of the training. This person might act later as the mentor or tutor of the student, so giving his support is also a declaration of the fact, that the planned professional activity at the foreign company is beneficial for the student; it has the required educational value. The selection process is mostly based on the CV of the student (professional background) and on the educational quality of the training offered by the company. There are some other criteria for selection as well: (1) Positive discrimination for those students who are receiving some kind of welfare benefits, (3) Preferred equal distribution of the placements among faculties, (2) At some faculties there is a pre-selection process to choose the best candidates. It can be seen, that the learning plan or description of professional activities at the company plays an integral role in the application and the selection process.  We think that on the individual level this is the best guarantee of the high educational quality of a practical training. Here we would like to mention some good practice which points at the new direction, namely aims at the institutional benefits, the valorization. Some university-company co-operations have been going on for years now (e.g. between the Faculty of Transport Engineering and a Cologne-based German company, RLE International). This means that special skills, that -partially because of this cooperation- became part of the training program, could be attained at this particular company, but before the training there is one semester preparation course for the students at the university. This is how theoretical and practical knowledge can meet in a university and company co-operation. This particular joint activity has been going on for more than 10 years, outside the EU Leonardo support as well. Another example for good practice is a cooperation between German companies and the Faculty of Civil Engineering. In the framework of it newly graduated students will have a practical training period at the company, where the tasks carried out will be supporting the joint research of the company and the faculty. So the trainee means a real link between the two sectors. After the selection process all the necessary administration (contracts, travel plans, insurance…) is helped by a central management unit, the Leonardo Office of BME. This unit has more than 5 years of experience in the implementation of practical training programs, therefore centralizing makes sense, this support activity (logistical assistance) is a lot more efficient. During the training period the student is asked to report about the training altogether 3 times ( 1 week after starting, at half-time and at the end). These reports include professional a practical details (housing, social activity, communication problems, financial facts) as well. We encourage the self evaluation of the students, asking them specific questions about evaluating their pre-training and after-training skills and asking them to report about their shortcomings as well. In the evaluation of the final report there is a significant difference between the students working as blue-collar workers and the older, more qualified students. The students who are at the beginning of their studies will have to present their final report in front of a panel of engineering and linguistic experts. This emphasizes that the real educational value of these placements is not necessarily the actual vocational development, but the integration to the working environment, the actual work experiences gained and the improvement of communication skills. They have to give oral account of all these in front of the experts, after finishing their written final report. The more trained, higher year students will also write a final report, but the real evaluation is done by their mentor or other course teachers, preferably their thesis advisor, who they will report to about their professional achievements. In all cases we encourage companies to issue a reference letter for the trainees, which they can later include in their portfolio. This however is the responsibility of the company, and they can not be forced to prepare it. Another “proof” of the successful internship is the EUROPASS certificate, which has been delivered regularly since 2005. Finally we address the question of responsibilities and commitments. In the 2005-round of applications the applicants had to include an official Letter of Commitment on Quality assurance signed by each participating institutions, schools and companies as well. So the previously mention quality criteria was already present at the planning stage, acknowledged by all partners. Therefore at least in theory every actor in the educational mobility area is aware of its responsibilities and is committed to the high quality standards. In practice a lot depend on the middle management, the persons who are actually implementing the programs.

 

Technical Support to Hungarian Leonardo Projects

 

The Hungarian Tempus Public Foundation (TPF, www.tpf.hu) as the organizer of the Hungarian Leonardo Programme (among many other European and governmental programmes) offers a wide range of technical support to the project organizers. In 2004 they created an electronic database for the running Leonardo projects, which is used by the coordinating institutions. This makes the practical and financial administration a lot easier, reducing the administration by using a unified, standard format which on one hand can be used to keep track of the project developments and on the other hand can be used to fulfill the reporting requirements. TPF also operates a home-page which has an international partner search data-base, where for example companies list job offers for prospective Leonardo beneficiaries. Project organizers can find every important information on TPF’s home-page, which makes everyday work quite easy. Any help which reduces the technical problems and makes administration and legal procedures automatic gives the opportunity for the project managers to spend more time on the professional issues, like quality management. TPF also provides professional help in the form of conferences, where certain aspects of EU programs and policies are presented and good practices can get publicity (dissemination conferences). The authors were invited lecturers and participants of such conferences several times in the past. These informative conferences are very useful tools in dissemination and in idea-sharing as well, meeting other project organizers gives a great opportunity learn from their good practices. TPF also coordinates international activities as well, informing Hungarian institutions about current European events, meetings or contact seminars and we would like to mention here that the authors also reported to TPF about the ICEE(R) conferences during the last four years.

 

International Co-operation

The quality issues have been playing an important role for several years. Here we mention only a few EU Leonardo projects, events with the participation of Budapest University of Technology and Economics. This participation helped us to study, understand international experience and by this way improve our own work. The MESIPA Leonardo pilot project [3] “Methodology to Evaluating Student Industrial Placements Abroad” developed a Practical Guide containing methodologies, case studies, guidelines. The project was coordinated by CEFI (F), the consortium member came from European countries (D, F, H, S, SW). Details, full text of the guide (www.cefi.org). In the framework of Leonardo Network project (whose consortium covered practically the whole continent) FACE “Chemical Education for a Competitive and Dynamic Europe” a White book was published. It contains the current situation, good practice, recommendations. Detail about FACE: http://face.fh-fresenius.de. The title of the Annual German Leonardo da Vinci Conference 2004 was “Quality of Mobility Projects University – Enterprise”. The questions raised in this paper and the reciprocity of mobility were discussed. One of the invited speakers was the first author.

 

Awards

 

In some European countries, including Hungary, the idea of promoting good practices of outstanding mobility projects led to the establishment of national Mobility Awards of Excellence. In Hungary the first such awards were handed out in 2003 in 4 categories (innovation, result, project management, sustainability), and a mobility project of BME was among the first awardees. In 2004 another project of BME was nominated again, which shows continuously high standard work. Following the footsteps of the national agencies in 2005 the EU Commission has created a new European Mobility Award and the first awards were handed out in Oslo in January 2005 at the Conference on Valorization and Quality in Mobility. The selection process started on national level, which was followed by a second round of evaluation, where independent European experts chose 5 projects out of the national nominees to be presented at Oslo, as the best European projects. There were four categories of mobility projects, one of them the higher educational section, where one of the projects of BME was selected to be among the five best projects. We are proud to add that in each of the other three categories there was also one Hungarian project among the nominated projects.

 

Summary

 

Engineering education is a segment of higher education where the need for practical training elements is quite obvious. The traditionally academic, theoretical education must answer the challenges of the constantly changing demands of the industry and economy. On the other hand globalization and the demands and opportunities of the growing EU pose another challenge, internationalization. The EU Leonardo Program in its second phase aims at tackling these challenges, by supporting foreign practical placements in all areas of vocational education, including engineering education. As the Leonardo program has already finished its first stage, the early, pioneer times are over, the program is well known in Europe and many experiences have been accumulated. In the second phase one of the main goal is to improve practices and consequently policy changes are negotiated to initiate the needed changes. One of the main initiatives is to introduce quality criteria to improve the value of educational mobility. The authors have presented these criteria as they appear in policies and as they are implemented in practice at BME, in Hungary. We also added one more element to the criteria, the concept of valorization, which aims at exploiting the possible long-term benefits of educational placements on institutional or even national level. Without setting this goal, the reached results tend to stay isolated and short-term, and appear mostly on the individual level.

 

Acknowledgement

 

The authors on behalf of Budapest University of Technology and Economics thank the European Union (especially the Leonardo da Vinci program) for the support of the international practical placements. The Hungarian National Leonardo Office (Peter Tordai, director, Judit Hermandy-Berencz, responsible for mobility projects) offers continuous help to the realization of the projects mentioned above. Special thanks to industrial and higher education partners (their list can be found in the project applications at http://tutor.nok.bme.hu). This paper and its presentation at the ICEER2005 conference could not be possible without the support of BME (especially of rector Karoly Molnar, vice-rector and director on international relations and research Miklos Zrinyi, Antal Adam).

 

References

 

[1] Sol, Ch, Moson, P, Strengthening the Links between Enterprises and Universities. Alternative Training of Engineers. In Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE) Technical University of Ostrava. August 10 - 12, 1999, Czech Technical University in Prague, August 13-14, 1999 (See: http://www.fs.vsb.cz/akce/1999/icee99/Proceedings/index.htm)

[2] ] Sol, Ch, Moson, P, Alternative Training of Engineers. Extension. In Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE 2000).

[3] Maury Cl, Moson, P, Evaluation of Students Industrial Placements Abroad. In Proceedings of ICEE 2001 Conference. August 6-10, 2001. Oslo / Bergen, Norway. (ISBN-1-588-74-091-9). See CD, http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/icee or http://ineer.org .

[4] Moson, P, International Education at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE 2002, Manchester Aug. 18-22, 2002). (see: http://www.ineer.org ).

[5] Moson, P, Student Exchange Programs (academic, practical placements) in Europe. In International Conference on Engineering Education Proceedings (ICEE 2003, Valencia, July 21-25, 2003). CD ISBN: 84-600-9918-0.

[6] Maury, Cl, Les formations d'ingénieurs dans les pays d'Europe Centrale et Orientale", Dossier - Partenariat Entreprises. CEFI (Comité d'Etudes sur les Formations d'Ingénieurs, www.cefi.org ). 2004, 60 p.

[7] Cooke, M, Gros, L, Horz, M, Zeller, W (editors). Chemical Education for a Competitive and Dynamic Europe. White Book (Bonn, Jan. 2005). ISSN 1618-9477, ISBN 3-88555-764-9, Bestell-Nr.:09.103 (p. 106).

[8] Hermandy-Berencz , J. Conference presentation. Conference on Valorisation and Quality in Mobility  Oslo, 24-25.January 2005.