In recent decades, progress towards quality education has been made through the implementation of structural reforms under the Bologna process. However, there is still a need to be more attentive to the process of learning and teaching itself.
EUA believes that universities must drive developments in learning and teaching and this requires close collaboration with all major stakeholder groups, including national and European policy makers. To support the endeavour, EUA is conducting several initiatives aimed at establishing a European dimension on higher education learning and teaching. The initiatives include knowledge-building activities and studies, institutional development and peer learning, as well as related policy statements and recommendations.
EUA’s activities aim at enhancing the quality and relevance of higher education provision, underline the importance of learning and teaching as a core mission and advocate for learning and teaching activities to be geared towards student learning and success.
The EUA Learning & Teaching Steering Committee guides this work, in particular by providing oversight for the thematic peer groups and the European Learning & Teaching Forum.
As demonstrated in EUA’s Trends 2018 report, learning and teaching enhancement becomes an institutional priority, generating dedicated strategies and structures.
Through work with its membership, EUA explores institutional approaches to education provision and provides recommendations on institutional strategies that can underpin university communities’ efforts in learning and teaching, and support staff, students and leadership in their roles and responsibilities.
In the framework of the EFFECT project, EUA, together with partner universities and organisations, also issued a set of 10 “Ten European Principles for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching”. These support the need to re-emphasise the education mission of the university, and to service institutional leaders working with staff, students and external stakeholders.
The input, engagement and competence of academic staff is crucial to enhance learning and teaching. Teaching must be fully recognised as central to the academic profession, and considered in career development.
With the view to raise the status of teaching in higher education, EUA’s work explores incentives and policies for academic staff to invest in teaching, develop their teaching competences, better balance their teaching and research workload, and progress in their careers in teaching. EUA’s EFFECT project also addresses teaching enhancement, through developing and testing modules for staff development. The project will issue, as a final report, a Feasibility Study on teaching enhancement in European higher education.
Digitalisation is transforming the way students learn, as well as ways for institutions to deliver education. While blended forms of e-learning currently appear as the most common route for including digital learning at European institutions, the Trends 2018 report shows that digital learning is reinforcing its presence and that universities want to make a more strategic use of it.
EUA has been following the development and consequences of digitalisation in higher education since Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) captured attention in 2012. It issued two occasional papers analysing the phenomenon of MOOCs, in 2013 and in 2014 . The Association also provided a knowledge base for the topic with a survey of European universities on e-learning. As digitalisation remains high on European, national and institutional agendas, EUA continues to monitor the developments and to actively contribute to discussions in this area.
The European Learning & Teaching Forum is an EUA event that provides an opportunity for participants to meet and discuss developments in learning and teaching at European universities. The topics span from good practice in teaching enhancement and institutional strategies to national and European policies. The Forum builds on EUA’s work with its member universities on this topic. Alongside the bottom-up approach, the Forum makes use of EUA’s extensive policy work in European higher education.
Based on the work of the EUA Learning & Teaching Initiative and the outcomes of the 1st European Learning & Teaching Forum, this paper underlines the importance of learning and teaching (L&T) as a core mission and responsibility of universities.
The EUA Charter has been elaborated on the basis of extensive consultation, not only with EUA’s 800 member universities and 34 national Rectors’ Conferences, but also with a wide range of European stakeholder organisations – including students and business. It calls on universities to make 10 clear commitments to lifelong learning.
The EFFECT project produced a feasibility study on how teaching enhancement can be promoted in the...
read moreActive learning encompasses a broad range of pedagogical approaches involving the learner in every...
read moreThe evaluation of learning and teaching is one central activity through which universities monitor...
read moreThe outcomes of the meetings of two of EUA’s 2018 Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Groups are now published as part of EUA’s newly launched series of Learning & Teaching papers. The reports by the ‘Career paths in teaching’ and ‘Continuous development of...
view moreHigher education stakeholders are increasingly aware of the need for systematic continuous...
read moreAttention to career paths in teaching and staff development, in order to enhance learning and...
read moreDuring 2018, four Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Groups, made up of participants from 38 universities, have worked on active learning, evaluation of learning and teaching, university teachers’ career paths, and continuous development of teaching competences, respectively. These...
view moreIn recent years, the enhancement of learning and teaching has become a priority, not only for...
read moreUnder the Erasmus+ project European Forum for Enhanced Collaboration in Teaching (EFFECT), EUA and 11 partners from 10 different countries have been exploring approaches for teaching enhancement and institutional strategies in learning and teaching. In November 2017, EFFECT launched the Ten...
view moreEUA is pleased to present “Trends 2018: Learning and teaching in the European Higher Education Area”. This flagship report gathers data from more than 300 higher education institutions in 48 European countries. Trends 2018 examines how learning and teaching at European higher education...
view moreTrends 2018 examines how learning and teaching at European higher education institutions evolves...
read moreEuropean societies changed and will further change, due to the impact of new technologies and...
view moreOn 25 May, European education ministers adopted the Paris Communiqué at the Bologna Process Ministerial Conference. It takes on topics already discussed in the Yerevan Communiqué such as implementation, learning and teaching, digitalisation and academic and civic values. This...
view moreOver the past three years, EUA has been working on a number of initiatives related to...
read moreAs the Bologna Process looks towards its third decade, EUA has published a statement focusing on how to further the Process’s achievements and enhance its ability to respond to a changing higher education landscape. The document comes as the Bologna Process prepares to hold its 2018...
view moreThe European Forum for Enhanced Collaboration in Teaching (EFFECT) project is in full swing with a...
view moreResearch-based education is happening in Europe, but there are clear challenges with how it is...
read moreAs discussions are underway at the European Learning & Teaching Forum, EUA’s Tia Loukkola gives an...
read moreStudent-centered and active learning are a necessity for European universities to remain relevant...
read moreA higher education institution’s graduates reflect the achievement of intended learning outcomes...
read moreThe relationship between higher education institutions and society, as well as between learning...
read moreHigher education institutions have been and are investing in finding a better balance between the...
read moreThe need to better professionalise academic teaching careers is now on the agenda of more and more...
read moreThe continuous development of teaching competences needs commitment at all levels. It is a...
read moreThe EUA Thematic Peer Group on the evaluation of learning and teaching has enhanced a student...
read moreIn line with Emmanuel Macron’s speech and discussions at the recent Social Summit in Gothenburg,...
read moreWith nearly 40 per cent of Europeans aged 30-34 now holding tertiary qualifications, universities...
read moreIn the run up to the European University Association’s first pan-European Learning and Teaching...
read moreThis webinar will explore how university cooperation and peer-learning on learning and teaching can be implemented at a European and national level and...
Read moreThe 2019 European Learning & Teaching Forum ‘Towards successful learning: Controversies and common ground’ builds on the recognition that...
Read moreLearning and teaching is a core mission for Europe’s universities and has gained in importance in discussions when addressing the future of the...
Read moreThe European Learning & Teaching Forum facilitated the exchange of experience on learning and teaching in changing learning landscapes. The European...
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