K.U.Leuven Association - case study

Founded in 1425, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Flemish University of Catholic signature with an international orientation. It has the legal statue of private institution and encompasses almost all academic disciplines. K.U.Leuven is a member of many high-profile international networks and associations such as LERU, Coimbra Group, EUA, etc.

Since July 11, 2002, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and twelve university colleges in Flanders have joined forces in the K.U.Leuven Association in order to occupy a position of strength within the new European educational landscape and to work together towards quality improvements in education. It is the largest educational association in Flanders.

With more than 76.000 students, it accounts for over 44% of the entire student population in Flemish higher education. It is an open and dynamic network, with a strong, influential position in Flanders. The K.U.Leuven Association primarily aims to offer a wide range of study and training programmes and to improve the quality of education and research through intensive cooperation.

The K.U.Leuven Association web site is at http://associatie.kuleuven.be/eng/

Institution

The present

General description of the institution in its current state, putting the e-learning into context

In order to implement the Bologna Declaration, Flanders has adapted its legislation on higher education. The decree on the restructuring of higher education (4 April 2003) translated the Bologna principles into Flemish regulations. These introduced a dual system of professional Bachelor’s degrees and academic Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. A key element is the cooperation between universities and university colleges through the development of institutional partnerships. In future years, these partnerships will contribute to the creation of the European Higher Education Area.

The K.U.Leuven Association is based on close cooperation between K.U.Leuven and twelve university colleges. With more than 76.000 students, it accounts for over 44% of the entire student population in Flemish higher education. It is an open and dynamic network, with a strong, influential position in Flanders. The K.U.Leuven Association primarily aims to offer a wide range of study and training programmes and to improve the quality of education and research through intensive cooperation.

Number of students, in total and as full-time equivalents

The K.U.Leuven Association currently has 76.537 students of which 25.477 (33%) at the university and 51.060 (67%) at the university colleges.

The institution's "business model"

The K.U.Leuven Association is a consortium and is based on close cooperation between K.U.Leuven and twelve university colleges.

• GROEP T – Internationale Hogeschool Leuven
• Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel
• Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende
• Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven
• Katholieke Hogeschool Mechelen
• Katholieke Hogeschool Zuid-West-Vlaanderen
• Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel
• Hogeschool voor Wetenschap & Kunst
• Katholieke Hogeschool Kempen
• Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg
• Katholieke Hogeschool Sint-Lieven
• Lessius Hogeschool

What percentage of the institution's students are based outside the home country?

About 12% of the number of students of the K.U.Leuven are international students.

Describe the institution's approach to virtual mobility.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) progressively organizes its educational support from a multicampus perspective, which includes several forms of virtual mobility. For more information, see the entry on multicampus.

Furthermore, in the long-range plan (2008-2013) of the steering group 'internationalisation' of the K.U.Leuven Association, virtual mobility is mentioned several times. One of the action points is that curricula should be built in that way that every student can have an international experience and explicitly mentions Virtual Mobility as one of the possibilities to do so.

The past

The institution's history since its foundation

• 1425: Founding of the K.U.Leuven by Pope Martin V with Latin as working language; K.U.Leuven is the oldest Catholic university in the world still in existence and the oldest university in the Low Countries
• 1797: Abolishment of the university by the French Republic
• 1835: Reopening of the university as Catholic University in Leuven
• 1911: For the first time increasing use of Dutch as teaching language
• 1936: Almost all lectures are taught in Dutch and French
• 1965: Founding of the Kortrijk Campus as undergraduate campus
• 1968: Splitting of the university into the Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-speaking Université Catholique de Louvain. The Université Catholique de Louvain moves to the newly built campus in Louvain-la-Neuve. The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven remains in the historic town of Leuven.
• 11 July 2002: Founding of the K.U.Leuven Association in the framework of the Bologna declaration. The Association consists of 13 Flemish institutions of higher education (K.U.Leuven and 12 polytechnics).

External environment

Describe the legal status of the institution.

The members of the K.U.Leuven Association have opted for a strong decision-making and executive structure. Apart from the not for profit association form (imposed by the decree) it is a federation for which a personal integration on the level of the highest organs of the institutions concerned was chosen. The composition of the General Assembly of each of the members is identical for 60%. This identical part forms the General Assembly of the Association. The General Assembly consists of representatives of the university colleges and the university and of co-opted members. The members of the General Assembly of the not for profit Association form at the same time the common part (60%) of the General Assembly of the institutions concerned.

The Association’s policy is developed by various advisory groups, which deal with important issues such as education, research, student policy, finance, communication, internationalisation, diversity and quality management. These advisory groups have emerged from the cooperation between the institutional partners. They launch forward-looking projects which function across institutional boundaries. In the field of internationalisation, the members of the Association also strive to integrate their policies, to pool their resources and share their various areas of expertise.

List the language(s) that the institution uses for instruction with the percentage of students studying in each. (Bilingual study can also be included.)

• Dutch
• English

The approach to credit transfer

K.U.Leuven has been awarded the ECTS label and is involved on a European level in discussions on ECTS and a project on ECTS. A working group of the K.U.Leuven will also support the members of the Association with obtaining the ECTS label (after 2007) and will incite them to integrate the ECTS-system in their course descriptions and their computerized files according to the prerequisites of the European label.

Main associations that the institution is a member of

K.U.Leuven is member of

• Coimbra Group
• League of European Research-intensive Universities (LERU)
• Fédération Internationale des Universités Catholiques/Fédération des Universités Catholiques Européennes (FIUC/FUCE)
• International Association of University Presidents (IAUP)
• European Associaton of Universities (EAU)
• Organisatie voor Economische Samenwerking en Ontwikkeling (OESO) - International Management in Higher Education (IMHE)
• European Association of International Education (EAIE)
• European Universities Continuing Education Network (EUCEN)
• EuroPACE ivzw

List the main international partners of the institution, in the order of strategic importance, with priority given to collaborations involving e-learning.

The AVNet (acronym for Audio-Visual and New Educational Technologies) Department of the K.U.Leuven is a university interface that aims to support networked e-learning in an international context, i.e. to support local university teachers in the internationalisation of their education by using ICT. It does this by providing advice, design, development, implementation, and training services. AVNet also assesses (inter)national trends in order to encourage local university teachers to participate in (inter)national activities and to translate (inter)national initiatives to the local and/or regional setting. Through AVNet has participated in a number of research projects on virtual education, e-learning and technology-enhanced learning in general. It furthermore maintains contacts with international partners a.o. in the field of e-learning.

Examples:

• Staff of the EuroPACE network houses in the same building as AVNet and as such close collaboration is obvious and intensive. EuroPACEs mission is to foster collaboration in e-learning.

• The e-LERU virtual campus is an initiative of 8 European universities, all members of the League of European Research Universities whose objective is to share teaching and learning experiences at a European level.

Strategy

The current learning and teaching strategy, including the e-learning strategy

A few years ago, the K.U.Leuven introduced ”Guided Independent Learning” as its educational concept. The basic assumptions are threefold: (1) students learn best when they can act as independent critical researchers within their discipline, (2) students become responsible for their own learning, (3) teachers on the other hand are responsible to coach their students adequately.

According to the concept every course should aim at contributing to the development of students’ independent and critical thinking. Rather than introducing students in a discipline by reading out ex cathedra or by having them snowed under with a bulk of information, teachers should create a learning environment that triggers students to actively manage learning materials by designing assignments, by providing corrective feedback and by integrating research and educational activities. Aiming at the efficient support of (formative) assessment and learning, in September 2001 the e-learning platform ”Toledo” (TOetsen en LEren Doeltreffend Ondersteunen) was introduced in which the concept of guided independent learning could be realised. Within Toledo three different software products are used: a digital learning environment (Blackboard Learning SystemTM), an electronic assessment tool (Question MarkTMPerceptionTM) and Ariadne’s Knowledge Pool System where learning content is tagged with metadata and stored for future re-use. The university management strongly promotes the use of the e-learning environment as an (additional) opportunity for enlarging support facilities and individualised student guidance, as well as for the active participation of students in a variety of research-related activities and for promoting genuine dialogue and interaction among students and among students and teachers. In several training-seminars faculty members can learn how to incorporate the e-learning platform into their regular teaching activities along the lines put forward by the university’s pedagogical concept of guided independent learning

Structure

• Describe the institutional structure, preferably supplying an organogram.
• Classify the e-learning support model as (a) hub (b) distributed (c) hub and spokes (d) complicated (e) non-existent. Comment on the choice.
• Describe in more detail the structure for the e-learning operation and how it maps into the institutional structure.
• Describe the committees that oversee e-learning (including the rank and role of the Chair in each relevant committee) and their relationship to the organisational structure.

Learning and Teaching processes

This has a focus on learning and teaching with other aspects viewed from this perspective.

Learning and teaching design and delivery

• Describe how choice of pedagogies and technologies is made for a typical programme that is envisaged to include significant e-learning.
• Describe what scope staff have at delivery stage to refine or in some cases override design decisions made earlier.

Learning and teaching development

This includes materials and IPR.

• How much e-learning content is sourced from outside the institution? Use a scale of 1-5 with a comment (an exact percentage is useful).
• Of all e-learning content sourced from outside the institution, what fraction is OER? Use a scale of 1-5 with a comment.
• When staff in the institution develop content, is the content (a) owned by them and licensed to the institution, (b) owned by the institution but with some licensing back to staff, (c) owned by the institution but with no licensing back to staff, (d) unclear or disputed IPR position? Whatever option is chosen, provide a narrative describing the situation in more detail.
• When content is sourced for a programme within the institution, how much is sourced from other departments within the institution? Use a scale of 1-5 with a comment (an exact percentage is useful).
• What is the role of student-generated content in the institution's programmes? Use a scale of 1-5 with a comment.

Learning and teaching evaluation and quality

Describe the quality procedures (a) in general terms and (b) with respect to e-learning.

Quality control at K.U.Leuven is organized on different levels. On the basis of the university’s pedagogical concept of ”Guided Independent Learning” the so-called permanent education committee (consisting of representatives of academic staff and students of a discipline) of each major discipline develops and implements the curriculum. At least every 8 years an extensive internal self-evaluation of each curriculum takes place in preparation of an external evaluation. Every 8 years the external visitation commission (consisting of independent experts of the discipline and its didactics) evaluates each curriculum on the basis of the self-evaluation report, other relevant documents, and the dialogue with representatives of the discipline. The visitation report forms the basis for the further accreditation of a programme. After the publication of the visitation report a follow-up is performed. Representatives of the discipline will discuss the results of the evaluation with a delegation of the educational council and decide about the actions needed and how to tackle them. Later on a report is given to the academic council about the actions taken. To further improve quality of teaching, student course evaluations are organized annually and study-time measurements are performed. All instructors of the university have the possibility to take training courses on pedagogical or ICT issues.

Meta Learning and Teaching processes

Communications

• Describe how the institution communicates good practice in e-learning within itself, focussing on communications across internal boundaries.
• Describe how the institution communicates its good practice in e-learning to organisations outside.
• Describe how the institution communicates good practice in e-learning from outside organisations into its own organisation.
• Describe recent occasions on which institutional leaders or managers have made presentations with significant reference to e-learning.

Value for money

• Describe the annual planning procedure (a) in general and (b) how it handles e-learning aspects.
• Describe the decision-making process for a typical academic programme, with particular reference to how e-learning aspects are handled.
• Describe the decision-making process for a typical large IT project such as selection and installation of a new VLE.
• Describe the approach to budget management with particular reference to the staff versus non-staff issues in budgeting for e-learning.
• Describe the procedures in the institution for assigning or negotiating teaching workload to/with staff, taking account of non-traditional styles of teaching as well as classroom teaching and taking specific account of e-learning.

Staff

Teachers, lecturers, trainers and equivalent support roles

Describe the approach to development of e-learning technical and pedagogic skills among staff, taking account of the different needs of different categories of staff. Set this within the context of staff development generally.

A bit of history

Professional development activities at K.U.Leuven are aimed at different target groups: new faculty members, teaching assistants, members of educational innovation teams, faculty members in general, but Guided Independent Learning (GIL) remains, in each of these, the guiding principle. It fits in a longer tradition of teacher training by the University Education Support Office, in which new faculty members were offered (on a voluntary basis) an intensive residential training in lecturing and assessment (especially for use of multiple choice tests), partly based on deficiencies that were identified through a student evaluation of their teaching. In preparation for the Toledo implementation, this training programme was experimentally enlarged to the preparation of materials that made use of ICT to support teaching and the student’s learning. The topics of this training covered a large area, ranging from learning theories, principles of instructional design and theoretical/practical considerations about the process of materials development, over theoretical aspects of interaction and the provision of information, the selection of digital platforms, and even aspects of policies and management, to practical questions like the evaluation of ICT materials and their use, intellectual property and copyright, how to provide feedback, various tools to develop materials. The reader that supported the training was afterwards published under the title “Muizen in het auditorium” (Mice in the lecture theatre, Elen and Laga, (2002)). The training had also a practical component that existed in the development of learning and/or teaching materials that made use of ICT and had to be implemented in the teaching (environment) of the participants. An extensive support group of experts and tools were brought together for the purpose and participants received support that was customised to their individual needs.

The introduction of GIL and the implementation of the Toledo platform changed the situation; the concept of earlier training was not suitable for the number of people that might now need support and it was also too labour-intensive. A new training programme was set up called “Digital Chalk”. This training consisted originally of four elective modules: an introductory module, a design module, a module about information delivery and one about communication facilities. The focus of the training was put on the development of particular insights and competencies that are essential to use the Toledo platform (namely information delivery and communication) in relation to their effect on learning. The introductory module gave insight in the features of the platform, whereas the design module helped to integrate the different functionalities of the platform into each other and into the global learning environment and to make sound decisions. Each module took 3 hours and consisted of a mix of demonstrations, assignments that forced the participants to use the platform and reflection on their own teaching in relation to students’ learning. Participation in the first module was a prerequisite for participation in (one or more of) the others. Evaluation of the training revealed that participants had the necessary basic computer skills and that their questions were instrumental (“How to…”, “Which solutions to this concrete problem”) and teaching oriented. Participants were glad to discover that others had similar questions and experiences. The complexities of the Toledo platform, with three independent parts that can exchange elements, but have different user interfaces and functionalities, led to the necessity of more extensive training. Also the fact that only the design module paid explicit attention to the educational practice of the participants was identified as an issue4. It was noticed that, after the training, most participants continued to design materials and resources from a teacher perspective.

Management and leadership

This subsection concerns leaders (Rectors, Vice-Chancellors, etc) and academic and support service managers (Deans, Directors, etc). These do not need to have specific knowledge of e-learning details but must have the necessary strategic, management, costing and foresight capability to preside over decisions on key e-learning issues such as procurement of a new VLE, development of a new distance learning programme, rebalancing the library and its staff more towards web 2.0 and less to books, etc. This will require appropriate manager and leader training.

• Describe the approach to development of e-learning-related skills among (a) managers and (b) leaders.
• Describe the current level of (a) management and (b) leadership competence in e-learning related skills appropriate to their levels. In each case use a 1-5 scale with a comment.
• Describe the extent to which (a) management and (b) leadership attitudes to e-learning are favourable or not. Use a 1-5 scale with a comment.
• Give details of the job description of the most senior manager/leader in the organisation who spends a significant portion of his/her time on e-learning matters (e.g. the Director of E-Learning).

Students

• Describe the approach to development of e-learning skills among students, taking account of the different needs of different categories of students. Set this within the context of students' more general information literacy and communication skills.
• Describe (a) the current level of student competence in e-learning on entry to the institution and (b) the expected level of student competence on graduation from the institution. In each case use a 1-5 scale with a comment.
• Describe the extent to which student attitudes to e-learning are favourable or not. Use a 1-5 scale with a comment.
• Describe the extent to which students understand the demands on them placed by e-learning systems (e.g. for assignment handling).
• Describe the current approach to handling student plagiarism, both prevention strategies and detection strategies.
• Describe the current (i.e. at last survey) level of student satisfaction with the e-learning aspects of their courses. Use a 1-5 scale with a comment.

Technology

For each of the following technologies relevant to e-learning describe how much it is used on a scale of 1-5 and add a comment if appropriate.

• VLE and/or content repository
• email or bulletin boards
• automated assessment
• Web 2.0 tools especially blogs, wikis and social networks oriented to the institution
• e-portfolios
• laptops - and comment on student ownership issues
• audio or video podcasting or streaming - and comment on student ownership issues
• mobile devices (not laptops) - and comment on student ownership issues

And finally:

• Provide a description of any other technologies with significant use in the institution.

Futures

• Describe the expected changes as they relate to e-learning within the institution's current strategic horizon (from the institution's strategy documents).
• Describe any changes further downstream that the institution is now considering or concerned about.
• Describe how the institution handles the foresight aspects of its operation with regard to e-learning.
• Describe how the institution handles advanced development oriented to e-learning (e.g. by a "sandbox" lab, innovation centre, etc).
• Describe how the institution analyses and takes into account present and future markets for its offerings.
• Describe how the institution analyses and takes into account present and future competitor suppliers for its offerings.
• Describe how the institution analyses and takes into account the views of other stakeholders, including but not restricted to employers, local authorities and the social partners (unions).

References and reports

Add what you can.

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