Financial Agreement number

Theme 2: "Students expectations from the European reforms"
Invited speakers

• 
  Lesley De Cruz and Sylvester Joosten (VVN: Vereniging voor Natuurkunde = Association for physics, Ghent Univ.)
  

• 
  A student from BEST.
  
• 
  
  

Topics discussed

Gender/social problems

Degree structure

Grading

Mobility

Student-centered learning

Language problems (English the lingua franca of science, but not of the people)

Mass education vs quality education

Problems

Attitudes of students (e.g. with respect to new T&L methods)

The step from Bachelor to Master may be considered a barrier by many students (higher tuition fees for Second Cycle?).

Bad organization of exchanges. Socioeconomic threshold for international mobility.

Dropping enrolment in Science studies

Re-naming things does not lead to harmonization

Recommendations

To foster transparency, good information. Positive role of TNs in making formation more transparent (as a way to harmonise).

Educational reforms will be successful and accepted if they will be accompanied by gradual change of mentality of students and staff.

To enhance the importance of the accreditation system (quality assurance procedure)

It’s necessary to implement ECTS credits (student workload) + diploma supplement + comparable grading.

To present mobility as a added value.

To promote concerns about environmental sustainability.