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Objectives
This colloquium has as main objective to generate a
space to share thoughts and experiences, on the
assessment of learning outcomes in higher education:
trends, debates and future perspectives internationally
and in Mexico. Besides, the main lessons learned from
the participation of Mexico in the Feasibility Study
"Assessing Learning Outcomes" coordinated by the OECD,
will be presented.
About assessment of learning outcomes
While the assessment of learning has long
been a fundamental aspect of the educational process, in
recent decades there has been concern in relation to
have evidence about obtaining certain learning expected
at the end of a formative stage. For example, to check
if the attributes of the graduate profiles or skills
acquired meet the desired expectations.
Today, the assessment of learning outcomes in many countries is one of the key components of the evaluation systems of quality of graduates, programs and educational institutions through a wide variety of methods and strategies such as those offered by the CENEVAL in Mexico. However, it remains a key challenge due to the changes and tensions that higher education deals with, in this century. The evaluation of learning outcomes acquired a new dimension at the light of challenges such as internationalization; the construction of educational, social and global scientific projects; the demands of the global labor markets; the generation of cross learning about sustainability, human rights, gender, inclusion, multiculturalism and other issues raised by various agencies and organizations; and the development of generic skills such as those proposed by the Tuning project for knowledge societies. For this reason, one purpose of the Colloquium is precisely to open a space to share ideas and experiences on the assessment of learning outcomes in higher education: its trends, debates and future perspectives internationally and in Mexico. About the AHELO feasibility study
The theme of assessing learning outcomes in higher
education, caught the attention of the Ministers of
Education from countries members of the OECD meeting, in
Athens in 2006. The reflection was oriented toward how
to better understand and assess the various dimensions
of the quality of higher education, recognizing that
there is little information on the results of students
learning.
During 2007, the OECD organized three meetings of experts in order to analyze the scope of the project and concluded that the existing national experiences and options not allow for international comparisons , which suggested holding the feasibility study AHELO ( Assessment for Higher Education Learning Outcomes). In December, 2008, the Governing Body of the IMHE (for its acronym in English, Program for Institutional Management in Higher Education) decided to establish a National Expert Group (Group of National Experts, GNE), from countries that would participate in the study. This National Expert Group would be responsible for guiding the study implementation internationally. Since its original proposals, the AHELO project has sought to explore the scientific and practical feasibility, to evaluate learning outcomes in higher education in different cultural contexts. This seeks to contribute improving the quality of higher education from a different point of view on current systems of evaluation and accreditation; through the identification and characterization of scope, limitations and possibilities of an initiative of this kind in the international arena. The feasibility study AHELO, was not designed to test new rankings between institutions or higher education graduates, but to generate an academic study on the feasibility of measuring learning outcomes and comparability at international level. It was clear since the AHELO outset, that the study was not mean to evaluate professional profiles as a whole or unify the attributes and instructional or educational projects that give foundation to those professional profiles in the different countries or educational systems. Rather, it was based on the international diversity of higher education systems as a working premise, and therefore became very clear the need to define certain key learnings that could be common (but not only) to these systems. For this reason, the AHELO study was divided into three branches of research, namely:
Also, a contextual dimension was included to incorporate
variables that allow better interpretation of results.
Thus, during the years 2009-2011, the organization bases GNE and working groups of each country were established. Consulting entities that would support the process were selected, frameworks were designed, and specific evaluation instruments were made. In Mexico, the project has been driven from its beginning by Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (UASLP), University of Guadalajara (UDG), and Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY), , and) in close coordination with the General Directorate of University Higher Education (DGESU), Secretariat for Superior Education, Secretariat of Public Education of Mexico. This Secretariat has provided expert advice as well as financial support, through the Higher Education Development Support Program (PADES). Mexico's participation was considered appropriate to generate new institutional learning assessment, explore alternative methodologies in international spectrum and extend the evaluation capabilities of participating institutions and generally the whole system of higher education institutions. In Mexico, fourteen higher education institutions joined the AHELO project:
The instruments application took place in 2012. At the
international level, 248 higher education institutions
participated in 17 countries and about 23,000 students
were involved. In Mexico 2,922 students and 983
professors participated in 112 sessions via web.
In 2013 several meetings to analyze, organize and interpret data derived from tests, as well as an international conference took place. From this, in 2014 the Mexican IES, all who participated in this project developed their institutional reports and contributed to the formulation of the project national report. Therefore, another aim of the Colloquium is to present the main lessons learned from the participation of Mexico in the Feasibility Study "Assessing Learning Outcomes" coordinated by the OECD. For more information, the following websites are available:
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This event is held with funding from the Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education, General Directorate of University Higher Education, through the Development of Higher Education Support Program (PADES, 2014-24-001-026). Project authorized to the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi.