Inquiry pedagogies provide opportunities to meet learning outcomes linked to developing scientific literacy. Within a European project intended at promoting Inquiry Based Learning (IBL), this paper presents quantitative and qualitative data about teachers' views of IBL and its enactment in England and Spain. Results show that teachers in both…

The vast majority of studies concerning the implementation of quality assurance in higher education institutions have been conducted from a national perspective, with few cross-national studies. This study aimed to explore the implementation of quality assurance standards in Europe from a comparative perspective. A questionnaire based on…

After the Bologna Process, European Higher Education was reformulated as a response to a change of roles in higher education in a globalised society. The implementation of a new system of credits, the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), implied an enormous increase of autonomous learning hours. The high percentage of student workload reflected…

The study provides an insight into student perspectives on quality in higher education, using Harvey and Green conceptualizations as the point of departure, and exploring the linkages between the views on quality, the developments of the Bologna Process and related national reforms, as well as students' motivation for and expectations from higher…

In Europe there is no common quality assurance framework for the delivery of guidance in higher education. Using a case study approach in four university career guidance services in England, France and Spain, this article aims to study how quality is implemented in university career guidance services in terms of strategy, standards and models,…

The interdependence of language and culture highlights the need to find methods for second language students to acquire cultural information and practices. This article reviews definitions of culture posited by anthropologists and language educators and discusses problems related to the recent paradigm shift from "small "c" and big…

This 2010 edition of the "Focus" report has been prepared for the European Ministerial Conference in Budapest/Vienna, 11-12 March 2010, that officially launches the European Higher Education Area. The report has been developed as a fully collaborative exercise between the Eurydice Network and the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG), with the…

The aim of this work is to analyse and communicate the "state of the art" in inclusive education for the Spanish communities of Madrid, Extremadura and Andalusia, as it is now more than 20 years since inclusive education was first adopted in Spain. The analysis is displayed in a twofold perspective: the basic standards inclusive…

In this document we discuss 19 university league tables and ranking systems from around the world. Sixteen of these are "national" league tables collected from ten countries (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States); three are "international" or…