Institution

The University of Oldenburg (UO) is one of the young German universities. With over 11,000 students and nearly 1800 faculty and staff members, it is an accessible, well-equipped university. The University of Oldenburg was established in 1973 as part of Germany's reform and expansion efforts of the university system. Today, the university substantially gives the structurally weak northwest region an economic and cultural boost. Around 800 academics of various disciplines work at the University of Oldenburg.

Involved

Prof. Dr. Anke Hanft is head of the department “Continuing Education and Educational Management” (we.b) and director of the C3L (Center for Livelong Learning) at University Oldenburg. In 2006 she conducted an international comparison study on university continuing education. Already in 2001/2002 she launched the first Bachelor- and Master-programs at University of Oldenburg. These programs (“Bachelor of Business Administration” and “Master of Educational Management”) comprise several innovative features and were precursors of the Bologna process in Oldenburg.

Wolfgang Müskens, Dr. phil., researcher at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, faculty I (educational sciences), dep. “Continuing Education and Educational Management”.

He currently coordinates the project “Network for Qualifications North West”, which is part of the research and development programme ANKOM, which means “Recognition of prior learning in Higher Education Study Courses”.

Bologna and NQF

 In 2002 the University of Oldenburg has started an intense restructuring of its programs of study. In nearly all courses of study at Oldenburg the European Credit Transfer System ECTS has been introduced guaranteeing mutual recognition of studies. All diploma courses are now (or will be soon) replaced by Bachelor- and Master-programmes. All of the examination and study regulations have to be rewritten.

 In the context of the project “Network for Qualifications North-West” the department of continuing education and educational management (we.b) has developed instruments and methods for the assessment and accreditation of prior learning, which are based on the European Qualifications Framework for LLL (EQF). One of these instruments is the “module level indicator” (MLI). The purpose of this standardised instrument is to determine the EQF-Level of a certain unit or module.

Role and Expectations

The we.b wants to support the formulation process of learning outcomes of one selected program of study at the University of Oldenburg. This process includes a qualitative formulation of learning outcomes as well as a quantitative description based on the Module Level Indicator (MLI). The application of the MLI goes hand in hand with the further development of this instrument.