`The 3TU criteria have been developed to improve the educational programs and to control their quality,' says Sander Lotze, education staff member in the department of general administrative matters. The criteria have been developed by, among others, Anthonie Meijers, professor of technological philosophy and ethics at Eindhoven. He wrote the booklet `Criteria for Academic Bachelor's and Master's Curricula'. In Europe the so-called Dublin descriptors are used in higher education. Those are uniform descriptions of final qualifications for students. Lotze: `Because those descriptions are generic, a couple of scientists have refined them. Meijers is one of them and together with two colleagues he wrote about the academic attitude, knowledge and skills you can expect from a student after his graduation. Interesting for the UT, because in the end, you want to improve your quality.'
Some educational programs already use these criteria. `Biomedical Engineering has used them for self-evaluation and Technical Medicine is based on them. Next to the pilot which starts this year at the school of Management and Governance the faculties of Behavioural Sciences and Engineering Technology are interested as well. Five employees of these faculties will attend an intensive seminar from February 13 to 15 by Anthonie Meijers on how to apply the 3TU-criteria their own programs.'
The Eindhoven professor names seven areas of ability that characterize an academic in his booklet: he or she is able in one or more scientific disciplines, capable in research and design. The graduate has a scientific approach and intellectual basic abilities, is capable in cooperation and communication, and considers temporal and social context. Every area of ability contains seven or eight sub-categories.
Meijers: `Which abilities are most important differs for each educational program. The center of excellence is different. Once you have outlined the profile, you can think about how the program corresponds to it.' Meijers explains that you can find this out by interviewing lecturers. `You can ask how their course contributes to the abilities. The obligatory courses especially should be examined so you get a clear view of the educational program and can maintain it accordingly.'
The abilities of graduates can also be tested. `Exams and assessments can measure the amount of abilities they have acquired. In Eindhoven and Nijmegen we conducted a pilot from which indicated that abilities are measurable over all of the 3TU criteria. A bit of refinement is still necessary in this area.'
The whole trajectory is still in development, says the professor. `We're looking at practical tools with which the quality of the educational programs is maintained.' Cooperation with the UT is certainly an option. `There is a proposal for setting up a 3TU expertise group on this area. It's very probable that the UT will take part with all its educational knowledge.'
Trans. Henriëtte van Dorp
