G.F. Chiocchia - M. Gola - G. Guglieri Politecnico di Torino (Italy)

1. Developmentof Qualification Frameworks for Cycles of Higher Education in Aircraft Engineering (AIRQUAL) G.F. Chiocchia - M. Gola - G. Guglieri Politecnico di Torino (Italy) AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

2. AirQUAL consortium Universities • Politecnico di Torino – Grant Holder (IT) • Kazan State Technical University – Scientific Coordinator (RF) • Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile – ENAC (FR) • Ecole Nationale Superieure de Mechanique et d’Aerotechnique – ENSMA (FR) • Royal Institute of Technology – KTH (SE) • Samara State Aerospace University – SSAU (RF) • Ufa State Aviation Technical University – USATU (RF) Institutions • Ministry of Education and Science (RF) • Ministry of Industry and Trade (RF) • Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RF) Industries • Kazan Engine Production Corporation (RF) • Kazan Helicopters (RF) • United Aircraft Corporation (RF) • Avio Group (IT) • Super Jet International (IT) • Thales Alenia Space (IT) AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

3. Background: HE reforms - Situation at RF universities • lack of information on EU strategies, HE trends and programs, requirements and standards • no compatibility of the Russian HE-qualifications with the European Qualification Framework (EQF) • out-dated and input-oriented curricula in AE, which have not been revised for decades  not competence-based  employers from the high-tech aircraft industry can not be provided with highly-qualified graduates • difficulties in mutual recognition of qualifications and degrees by RF and EU countries  lack of transparent, comparable and understandable Russian HE degrees and diplomas • Industry does not recognize degrees (i.e. Bachelor and -to some extent- Master degrees in AE)  employers have no clear understanding of their competences and skills • Insufficient own financial resources of universities for effective carrying out the HE reforms AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

4. Background:Needs of RF universities • Strengthening the implementation of the European dimension and policy of HE and its QA approaches • Closer integration of universities into EHEA • Selection of appropriate Russian AE-universities being able to become a driving force for promotion of specific Bologna instruments on EQF-like developments • Obtaining experience in “translating” the occupational standards into HE applications to provide graduates with competences and skills required and to be properly recognised by industry • Development of descriptors for qualifications in Aircraft Engineering in terms of European Qualification Frameworks to modernize curricula for the three cycles of HE • Securing a favourable environment for dissemination of qualifications descriptors and related AE curricula within Russia. AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

5. Project Background • Why QFs for AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING ? • Aircraft Machinery industry is an important sector of Russian national economy • Outdated register of occupations and professional standards in AE not applicable to the contemporary level of technological progress in AE sector development • Lack of highly-qualified AE graduates possessing modern and updated competences and skills for this high-tech sector of industry • REGIONAL ASPECT • 3 regions involved in project: Republic of Tartastan (RT), Republic of Bashkortastan (RB) and Samara Oblast (SO) • Large industrial, cultural and educational centres of RF • In RT, RB and SO: 80 universities, 300.000 students AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

6. Project Background • POLITO has been recently implementing aquality assurance frameworkas a tool for Internal Quality Assurance(according to the term employed in ENQA Standards and Guidelines, or, tout court, Quality Assurance - QA) of Programmes in Higher Education Institutions. With the idea that QA should always be installed well before any move towards external accreditation or certification. The Polito-Q.A. framework is designed to satisfy four core principles: • 1. due consideration of external educational demands: the Programme must be clearly designed around functions to be covered by the degree holder in a working context and around the related competencies • 2. appropriate response to the educational demands (in old language, educational offer): the Programme must be clearly deployed with appropriate Learning Outcomes, which are in agreement (content, amount, level) with the target functions / competencies • 3. learning environment appropriate to the envisaged Learning Outcomes: the Programme must expose the students to an appropriate learning environment, with appropriate and state of the art equipment, laboratories, teaching methods • 4. proven capability of meeting the expected Learning Outcomes: the Programme examinations appropriately certifies that Learning Outcomes have been reached by the students, which implies that the exams must be documented to have a proven public certifying value • Actions 1 & 2 within the current project - Actions 3 & 4 left to individual initiatives AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

7. Project objectives • To intensify and deepen the university–industry cooperation by developing methodology and specific interface for the “translation” of occupation profiles and standards into educational terms of learning outcomes to be applied for courses in Aircraft Engineering. • To develop descriptors for Higher Education qualifications (knowledge, skills, functions and competences) in Aircraft Engineering for Bachelor-Master-Doctoral cycles in reference to the European Qualification Frameworks. • To adapt curricula for Bachelor-Master-Doctoral cycles in Aircraft Engineering in line with the qualifications framework developed within the AIRQUAL project. AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

8. Action Lines • Adoption of the European experience in QF and competence-based curriculum development • Strengthening of interaction of HEIs with the industry to train qualified graduates demanded on the labour market • On the basis of the current situation in Aircraft industry analysis, development of QFs in terms of knowledge, skills and competences and the corresponding curricula for different specializations in AE • Development of competence-oriented curricula for 3 cycles of HE based on ECTS • Promoting best practices and methodologies aiming to facilitate the Bologna lines AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

9. Project activities • Internal analysis of the situation in Russian Aircraft industries will be conducted to identify the requirements of university graduates. Therefore, questionnaires were developed, surveys conducted in order to analyse outdated and demanded occupations, skills and functions required in Aircraft Engineering. • Study visits were organised at the European Partner universities in order to demonstrate European experience in university-industry cooperation and the development of qualification frameworks. • Dissemination of results was conducted with the publication of a manual, which summarises background information to Higher Education in Russia, approaches and methodology as well as the survey results. AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

10. Project activities • A Qualifications Framework for Bachelor-Master-Doctorate degrees in Aircraft Engineering for Russian universities will be defined in collaboration with the involved Partner universities and industries. • Curricula for Bachelor-Master-Doctorate will be elaborated with industry representatives and nationally approved by the RF Ministries in order to develop a clear definition of learning objectives and to introduce the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). • Dissemination of results will be conducted through a final conference and the publication of a handbook of qualifications with corresponding competences, which will be published and distributed among industrial enterprises, universities, Career counselling centres, etc. AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

11. Additional Comments • AIRQUAL is a unique opportunity for interaction among universities operating within different cultural environments and following separate educational address from EU and RF. • AIRQUAL allows to update and revise HE curricula according to inputs and suggestions from aerospace stakeholders (an approach which is increasingly recommended in Europe and enforced in most Quality Assurance contexts) • It is fully in the line of new/innovative long term processes that aim at superseding the traditional purely “academic discipline based” vision of degrees • Open issues are: “language” barrier due to different traditions, different industrial environment in EU and RF, the need to find a better compromise between top-down and bottom-up approaches to quality (reactive versus proactive attitude), the need to improve mobility AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010

12. WWW Website - AirQUAL http://www.airqual.ru/en/news/index.php Thank you for your attention! AirQUAL - Politecnico di Torino Torino - 19/10/2010