PAC - PERFORMANCE-CENTERED ADAPTIVE CURRICULUM FOR EMPLOYMENT NEEDS

Mohamed Tawfik, Maria Jose Albert and Manuel Castro

Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED)

Nevena Mileva

Plovdiv University

Alexander Gochev

Index-6® Ltd

Mihail Milev

Technology-enhanced, Performance-oriented Learning Software Solutions (Tepolsofts Ltd)

Damjan Ekert and Richard Messnarz

International Software Consulting Network GesmbH (ISCN)

Ken Slaven, Hector Pastor and Rebeca Rada

Adaptive Predictive Expert Control (ADEX)

PAC - Performance-centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs Programa ERASMUS: Acción Multilateral - 517742-LLP-1-2011-1-BG-ERASMUS-ECUE

The global competitive labor market and industrial sectorial trends have demanded new requirements and restructuring in the prevailing engineering curriculum of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in terms of:

• Linking the educational contents with the industrial real-world.

• Promoting cooperation between universities and enterprises.

Regarding to the Cedefop’s latest forecast on the demand and supply of skills, which foresees a steady rise in knowledge- and skill-intensive occupations:

• The total number of job openings will reach around 80 million by 2020, with the biggest increase in high-level managerial, professional and technical occupations.

• These higher level jobs are expected to increase to around 8.5 million over the next decade, and to gain a share of more than 42% of total employment.

The experts with higher qualifications will therefore clearly be in the best position to take advantage of these developments.

In response to these needs, the Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs (PAC) project was launched in order to develop business adaptive and employment and labor market oriented master degree programs for computer, electronics, and fiber-optics engineering.

PAC project is based on a partnership between European universities and enterprises and it supports progress towards European-wide certification of qualifications.

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

• Development of a master degree program in fiber-optics technology, control systems, electronic and software engineering.

• Input business and employment into curriculum development.• Considering concrete and specific new standards of industry at national and

regional level, not only in terms of formal qualifications but also in terms of detailed new skills requirements and competences.

• Fostering employment by preparing qualified professional profiles in a particular occupation.

Objectives

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

• Plovdiv University (PU).• Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED).• International Software Consulting Network GesmbH (ISCN).• Adaptive Predictive Expert Control (ADEX).• INDEX-6® Ltd.• Technology-Enhanced, Performance-Oriented Learning Software Solutions

(TEPOLSoftS Ltd).

Partners

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

• To ensure the sustainability and the successful realization of the PAC project, Plovdiv University will cooperate with the UNED and the ISCN which has extensive experience in the automotive and software industry labor market. So far, the partners have had two successfully implemented projects - DIPSEIL and IPLECS - that will serve as a base for the development of the present one.

• On the one hand, partnership with enterprises are crucial when it comes to matching the needs for skills in the labor marke. In this regard our industry partners Index 6, TepolSofts, ADEX, Global Communication Net AD, KCM Plovdiv and ZF Friedrichshafen AG, will help us in skills and personal competence profile identification.

Partners

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

• The project provides virtual mobility of students and teachers by developing open educational resources on-line within the framework DIPSEIL (Distributed Internet-Based Performance Support Environment for Individualized Learning) which is released in 5 languages to organize different courses. These educational resources comprise innovative ICT-based learning content, services, pedagogies and practice for lifelong learning and vocational training.

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

• Courses in forms of modules with tasks for performance are/will be available in DIPSEIL. Students will work from the distance and in the labs of PU and UNED-DIEEC for tasks where the practical performance is necessary. During the specialization phase, students will work closely with the professionals from the supporting enterprises using their environment, tools and equipment, and their experts support in form of feedback and evaluation of tasks performance.

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

• PAC training of the students will be further strengthened through relevant engineering work experience. Two months internship programs will be opened for the participants so that they can integrate learning with working life and further develop the corresponding vocational skills. Knowledge,

• skills and competence assessment will be performed by each of the employees. As key contributors to the initiative, they will present evaluation reports which will capture the range of outcomes desired and will give an overview, of the results and lessons learned.

• The implementation of the program will represent a significant step forward in the transformation of the learning and educational process from a traditional lecture-practice-test training approach to an innovative performance-centered one.

• The impact of the project will foster motivation and value in learning and will enhance the relationship between skills providers and employers. At a regional level it will support Bulgaria in its efforts to align its higher educational framework with modern European best practice and standards.

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

http://pac.dipseil.net/

PAC-Performance-Centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs project

We next present the following contributions, that describe the role of each partner, in this special session:

Plovdiv University expertise and solutions in performance-centered adaptive curriculum for the needs of industry in Plovdiv region. PU, INDEX-6 and TEPOLSoftS

European strategy for joint education and certification involving both industry and universities. ISCN

Curricular development required to support Adaptive Predictive Expert control projects and business in industry. ADEX

State-of-the-Art Remote Laboratories for Industrial Electronics Applications. UNED

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

PAC - Performance-centered Adaptive Curriculum for Employment Needs Programa ERASMUS: Acción Multilateral - 517742-LLP-1-2011-1-BG-ERASMUS-ECUE

Nevena MilevaPlovdiv University