In higher engineering education, students' learning outcomes are typically measured via tests and examinations. In that way, so it is claimed, students have reached the learning goals intended by the teachers. However, students' learning experiences and perceived learning gains remain unclear. To gain insights into their perceived learning gains,…

Although many studies have investigated the overarching benefits of curriuclum internationalisation in various forms, there have been few investigations of students' perspectives on changing university policies towards internationalisation. In this study, we considered master's students' perspectives on two changing internationalisation policies…

In the midst of continuous health professions curriculum reforms, critical questions arise about the extent to which conceptual ideas are actually put into practice. Curricula are often not implemented as intended. An under-explored aspect that might play a role is governance. In light of major curriculum changes, we explored educators'…

Many countries are trying to increase the recruitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies. Some have implemented curriculum reforms to this end, others may do so. Using experiences from curriculum reforms in Germany, the Netherlands and, in particular, Sweden, we consider a proposal from the Royal Society in England…

Assessment for learning (AfL) and differentiated instruction (DI) both imply a focus on learning processes and affect student learning positively. However, both AfL and DI prove to be difficult to implement for teachers. Two chemistry and two physics teachers were studied when designing and implementing the formative assessment of conceptual…

Musicians nowadays need to be able to work both creatively and collaboratively, often in a wider range of artistic, social and cultural contexts. A strong vision on conservatoire pedagogy is needed to reach this goal and at the same time align with the demands of higher education. At the start of the 21st century, renewal of curricula concentrated…

Citizenship education is an important part of current debates about future education. In contrast, educational philosopher Gert Biesta calls for a shift "from teaching citizenship to learning democracy". This study wants to contribute to this shift. A Delphi-method is applied on a Dutch case study, presenting a way to collect and analyze…

Assessment is a crucial factor in the implementation of curriculum reform. Little is known, however, on how curriculum changes can be reflected adequately in assessment, particularly if the reform concerns process skills. This issue was investigated for the case of assessing mathematical thinking in a mathematics curriculum reform for…

The OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 (E2030) project's overall goal is that of looking to the future in terms of how school curricula should evolve given the technological advances and other changes that societies are now facing. Towards that end, the E2030 project centres on the idea that education needs to equip students with the…

This study follows a group of modern foreign languages (MFL) teachers in the Netherlands during a nine-month professional development project around the theme of 'Content in MFL'. The project was initiated following proposals to refocus the MFL curriculum on the basis of integrated learning outcomes for both language proficiency and areas of…

The overall aim of the study was to gather evidence on effective policy reforms for broad competence development in school education, including better achievement of basic skills. The six key objectives are: Objective 1: To understand the key features of policy design and implementation of reforms for broad competence development and achievement…

It has been widely documented that accountability systems, including school inspections, bring with them unintended side effects. These unintended effects are often negative and have the potential to undo the intended positive effects. However the empirical evidence is limited. Through a European comparative study we have had the rare opportunity…

Family-School Partnerships (FSP) are important for students' academic achievements and social-emotional development. Therefore, pre-service teachers need to learn how to establish this. However, in teacher education programmes this topic is insufficiently addressed partially attributed to already overloaded programmes. This study reports on a…

Curriculum alignment is crucial in realizing learning objectives, but in higher education the alignment is often challenged by practical problems. The adverse effect of misalignment is further amplified by the lack of student awareness of their position within the curriculum. We argue for the importance of the visibility of learning trajectories…

On signing the Bologna declaration in 1999, European countries committed themselves to addressing the reforms necessary for adapting their university education to the European Higher Education Area. This modification process culminated in 2010, and this research aims to analyse the degree of divergence that currently exists in each course subject…