Abstract
In European Higher Education, learning outcomes and competences have been used sometimes with different meanings and sometimes with the same meaning. But both terms have been more commonly used to refer to knowledge, understanding and abilities a student must demonstrate at the end of a learning experience. Their use is a consequence of the paradigm shift of the Bologna Process to a learner centered education environment. The definition of standards of competences (or learning outcomes) for the PhD degree is thus a need for the quality assurance of this degree. In this work, subject-specific and generic competences for the PhD in Food Science and Technology and their alignment with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) level descriptors for quality assurance purposes have been identified.
Highlights
In the last few years, international trends in education have shown a shift from the traditional “teacher-centered” approach to a more “student-centered” approach
In European Higher Education, learning outcomes and competences have been used sometimes with different meanings and sometimes with the same meaning, but both terms have been more commonly used to refer to written statements of what the successful student/learner is expected to be able to do at the end of the module/course unit or qualification (Adam, 2004)
These competences or outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge, skills or attitudes (Kennedy et al, 2006)
Summary
In the last few years, international trends in education have shown a shift from the traditional “teacher-centered” approach to a more “student-centered” approach. In European Higher Education, learning outcomes and competences have been used sometimes with different meanings and sometimes with the same meaning, but both terms have been more commonly used to refer to written statements of what the successful student/learner is expected to be able to do at the end of the module/course unit or qualification (Adam, 2004). These competences or outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge, skills or attitudes (Kennedy et al, 2006). The most common form of doctorate programme is still based largely on a supervised research project over three to five years during which
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