Bologna in European research-intensive universities. Implications for bachelor and master programs

The Bologna-declaration changes fundamentally higher education
in Europe. It introduces a clear distinction between bachelor and
master programs and invites research-intensive universities for a
fundamental refl ection on the relationship between research and
educational activities.
Some of the prominent questions are: how can
students’ learning experiences within a research-intensive context
be characterised, what effects can be expected from and what is the
actual impact of learning in an environment that in general focuses on
research rather than on education and student learning, and how can
research be integrated in education in view of optimizing learning.

Considering the literature on the one hand and building upon the
in-depth refl ections of faculty-members in European researchintensive
universities, the authors Jan Elen and An Verburgh make
a number of educational proposals, pertaining to goals, orientation
and curriculum structure of bachelors and masters programs as
well as to the instructional activities and possible quality assurance
processes in research-intensive universities.
The proposals are
formulated in view of encouraging ongoing discussion and debate on
the nexus between education and research. They aim at increasing the
attractiveness and effectiveness of educational activities by stressing
the need for a thorough, systematic and diversifi ed integration of
research in educational activities.

Jan Elen is professor at the Center of Instructional Psychology and
Technology of the KU Leuven, a partner of the League of European
Research-Intensive Universities (LERU). He is the former director of
the educational support offi ce of the KU Leuven. His research focuses
on instructional design in higher education settings. He teaches
introductory courses on Learning and Instruction and more advanced
courses on educational technology and instructional design.
An Verburgh is currently preparing her PhD. For several years she
was an active member of the educational support offi ce of the KU
Leuven. In that position she coached the implementation of the
bachelor-master structure at the KU Leuven. Her Phd addresses the
relationship between research and education at the curriculum level.
In contrast to the prevailing literature, she will focus on the actual
situation rather than on the perceived or self-reported one.