Initial Teacher Education in the Region of Western Greece: What does the student learn from the curriculum?

Abstract

The shift from science-based curricula to curricula based on learning outcomes has been a major change for higher education. It is a radical curriculum design model transfer for higher education. The proposed research focuses on this new model that is the most difficult point assessment between expected learning outcomes and acquired learning outcomes. The given example is the initial programme of study of a Department of Primary Teacher Education, located in the region of Western Greece (Greece). In this research students were asked to answer whether they have developed the learning outcomes. The tool used comes from the European Tuning project which is of great importance in learning. From Tuning were taken the generic and specific competencies proposed for the field "Education". The questionnaire was divided into three levels. The first one concerned the students' diagnosis of the relevance of Tuning competencies. The second concerned the recognition of their existence within the curriculum. The third level concerned the students' self-assessment of whether they have developed these competencies. The innovation of the article lies in: a) the object itself, in other words the construction of a tool to investigate the effectiveness of student learning, b) the fact that the students were questioned on issues (learning outcomes) concerning the design of their curriculum and its effectiveness (learning). The results showed that students have a full understanding concerning the developed or not developed competencies. Consequently, students seem to be able to evaluate their learning process and its effects on them.