A STUDENT PERSONAL SYSTEM
FOR BOLOGNA PROCESS MOBILITY
Porfírio P. Filipe and João C. Ferreira
GuIAA-DEETC, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Keywords: Bologna Process, Mobility, Semantic Web, Knowledge Representation, Higher Education, Skills.
Abstract: The Bologna Process aimed to build a European Higher Education Area with the objective of promoting
students mobility. The adoption of Bologna Declaration directives requires a decentralized approach that
accelerates student‟s mobility, based on frequently updated legislation. This paper proposes a student
personal system to manage student‟s academic information. This system is supported by a flexible model
that integrates, for instance, knowledge about the student attended courses or about a course that the student
wishes to apply. Essentially, this model holds a (i) Student‟s Academic Record with skills acquired in
academic course units, professional experience or training and an (ii) Individual Studies Plan, which places
the student in a particular (iii) Course Plan setting the curricular structure that the student wishes to apply.
1 INTRODUCTION
With Bologna Process (BP), the social and cultural
developments impose a revision of the graduate and
postgraduate education systems. Students can
personalize their studies from a diversity of options.
Furthermore, study programmes have become
modular, giving students the chance of more
mobility during their studies. Organisational and
legal efforts have been taken to guarantee high
compatibility of study programmes and modules,
e.g. the so called BP in Europe (Bologna 2001).
Resulting from this process students can
personalized their studies and can compose different
educational modules at any institutions to a highly
personalised curriculum. This process will change
the role of educational institutions, such as
universities (Krämer 2003). They are to be
considered as components of a common, integrated
educational space.
The traditional tasks like offering lectures, seminars,
materials, and infrastructure for education will be
supplemented by new tasks, such as personalized
educational programmes.
This scenario requires new information systems and
data integration among the different institutions.
In order to support this new academic reality of self-
management, the current work suggests a Student
Personal System (SPS) to manage its academic
information records. We propose a knowledge
representation model to organize the student„s
academic information, presented at section 3.
The most important issues in this context problem
are the support for the searching and studies plan
evaluation. Such system should help current and
prospective students to search for suitable course
plans or single course units in order to compose a
personal curriculum by analysing their multi-faceted
skills. The student proposals for individual studies
plan are submitted and approved by the desired
educational institution. The proposed SPS offers a
graphical user interface that is autonomous from a
particular institution. The data acquisition and data
submission can be implemented in multiple ways
such as web services or simple by file transfer
protocols.
2 BOLOGNA DECLARATION
As the Confederation of EU Rectors‟ and the
Association of European Universities (2000)
explains it (CRE et al, 2000 p.3-4):
The Bologna declaration reflects a search for a
common European answer to common European
problems. The process originates from the
recognition that in spite of their valuable
differences, European higher education systems are
facing common internal and external challenges
194
P. Filipe P. and C. Ferreira J. (2009).
A STUDENT PERSONAL SYSTEM FOR BOLOGNA PROCESS MOBILITY.
In Proceedings of the International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing, pages 194-199
Copyright
c
SciTePress
cd UML
AcademicRecord
CoursePlan
«Transformati on»
StudentPersonalSystem
IndividualStudiesPlan
Course
Units
Scientic
Area
Skills
Course Coordinator
Student
Institution
validates
creates
belongs >
Academic Information
Repository
Figure 1: Student Personal System.
related to the growth and diversification of higher
education, the employability of graduates, the
shortage of skills in key areas, the expansion of
private and transnational education, etc. The
Declaration recognises the value of coordinated
reforms, compatible systems and common action.
The action program set out in the Declaration is
based on a clearly defined common goal, a deadline
and a set of specified objectives:
A clearly defined common goal: to create a
European space for higher education in order to
enhance the employability and mobility of citizens
and to increase the international competitiveness of
European higher education;
A deadline: the European space for higher
education should be completed in 2010;
A set of specified objectives:
- The adoption of a common framework of
readable and comparable degrees, “also through
the implementation of the Diploma Supplement”;
- The introduction of undergraduate and
postgraduate levels in all countries, with first
degrees no shorter than 3 years and relevant to the
labour market;
- ECTS-compatible credit systems also covering
lifelong learning activities;
- A European dimension in quality assurance,
with comparable criteria and methods;
- The elimination of remaining obstacles to the
free mobility of students (as well as trainees and
graduates) and teachers (as well as researchers and
higher education administrators).
3 STUDENT PERSONAL SYSTEM
The SPS is illustrated in Figure 1. The main
objective is to assist student in the management of
personal academic information supported by AIR.
The main objective of the SPS is to allow the
simulation of a possible mobility scenario that can
be submitted by the student to an institution.
Essentially, the institution provides course plans that
can be chosen by the student. In order to simulate
the mobility, according to BP, the SPS compares the
student‟s skills in the academic record against the
skills in the course plan and produces an individual
studies plan that represents de current position of the
student in the context of a particular course plan.
When the skills in the academic record are literally
equal to the skills in the course plan or exists a
historical registration about the skills similarity the
individual studies plan is fulfilled. When is not
possible to determine the skills similarity a human
intervention is required, for instance after the
submission will be the course coordinator.
3.1 Individual Studies Plan
A generic representation of the individual studies
plan is illustrated in Figure 2, except the course unit
element that is in the root of the individual studies
plan.
The order of the terms in RDF is irrelevant; the
results of the queries are independents of the
position of the information. This particularity makes
A STUDENT PERSONAL SYSTEM FOR BOLOGNA PROCESS MOBILITY
195
the RDF flexible and permits futures actualizations
with a minimum of changes.
Figure 2: Part of the Individual Studies Plan.
For example in RDF and for a specific case, the
individual studies plan can be modelled by the code
presented in Example 1.
<Plan rdf:ID="PT-IPL-ISEL-LEIC-ALUXOX">
<Version>1.0</Version>
<dc:language>por</dc:language>
<AwardingInstitution>Instituto
Politécnico de Lisboa
</AwardingInstitution>
<InstitutionAdministeringStudies>
Instituto Superior de Engenharia de
Lisboa
</InstitutionAdministeringStudies>
<Name>Engenharia Informática e de
Computadores</Name>
<LengthOfProgramme>6S
</LengthOfProgramme>
<ScientificAreas>
(…)
<ScientificArea rdf:ID="MAT">
<ScientificAreaCode>MAT
</ScientificAreaCode>
<Name>Matemática</Name>
<ECTSCreditsAcumulated>6
</ECTSCreditsAcumulated>
</ScientificArea>
(…)
</ScientificAreas>
<CourseUnits>
(…)
<CourseUnit rdf:ID="MATII">
<Code>MATI</Code>
<Name>Matemática II</Name>
<ScientificAreaCode>MAT
</ScientificAreaCode>
<Lenght>1S</Lenght>
<AcademicYear>1</AcademicYear>
<AcademicSemester>2
</AcademicSemester>
<TotalLectures>160</TotalLectures>
<TotalLecturesTP>90
</TotalLecturesTP>
<ECTSCredits>6,5</ECTSCredits>
<Mandatory>Sim</Mandatory>
</CourseUnit>
(…)
</CourseUnits>
</Plan>
Example 1: Part of the Individual Studies Plan.
3.2 Skills and Course Units
The concept of skills is used to establish a link
between the ones acquired by the student by various
means and those necessaries to complete a
determined course plan.
The definition of the skills must be clear. For this
we propose the European Dictionary of Skills and
Competencies to provide a common terminology,
easy comprehension and high scientific accuracy.
A model for skills representation is showed in
Figure 3. A skill is composed by a code (ID) and by
a description.
Figure 3: Skills.
<Skills>
<rdf:Bag>
<rdf:li>
<Skill rdf:ID="S17454">
<Code>17451</Code>
<Description>HTTPS</Description>
</Skill>
</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>
<Skill rdf:ID="S17454">
<Code>17931</Code>
<Description>Negociation
</Description>
</Skill>
</rdf:li>
</rdf:Bag>
</Skills>
Example 2: A Skill in RDF.
The course unit is a central element for the mobility
process.The code, name, skills, total of lectures and
ECTS credits of a course unit are presented in the
modulation of the course unit in Figure 4.
An example of the implementation of the course
unit “computer networks” including a skill, and part
of the RDF code is presented:
KMIS 2009 - International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing
196
<CourseUnit rdf:ID="ES-UPM-RC">
<Code>ES-UPM-RC</Code>
<Name>Computer Networks</Name>
<Skills>
(…)
<Skill rdf:ID="S17454">
<Code>17451</Code>
<Description>HTTPS</Description>
</Skill>
(…)
</Skills>
<ECTSCredits>9</ECTSCredits>
</CourseUnit>
Example 3: A Course Unit in RDF.
Figure 4: Course Unit.
cd UML
Academic Record
Work
Experience
ContractofStudy
Student
Data
Qualification
Formation
Unit
CourseUnit
Extra
Curricular
Course
Skill
Figure 5: Academic Record model.
The Academic Information Repository (AIR)
proposed Model for Mobility (MM) is composed by
two sub-models:
- Academic Record, illustrated on Figure 5;
- Course Plan, illustrated on Figure 6;
A studies contract is celebrated between the student
and the institutions to formalize the terms of the
cd UML
Skills
Course
Units
Course Plan
Scientic
Area
Figure 6: Course Plan model.
mobility process.
The language used to write the documents is
RDF (Resource Description Framework) and
respective schema the RDFS. An excerpt of the
Model for Mobility is represented in Example 4.
<?xml version="1.0"?><rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf=
"http://www.w3.org/
1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:rdfs=
"http://www.w3.org/
2000/01/rdf-schema#">
<rdfs:Class rdf:ID="AcademicRecord">
Resource"/>
<rdf:Property rdf:ID="StudentsData">
(...)
<rdf:Property rdf:ID="Code">
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource=
"#Nationality"/>
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource=
"#CourseUnit"/>
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource="#Skill"/>
<rdfs:domain rdf:resource=
"#FormationUnit"/>
<rdfs:range
Example 4: Part of the Model for Mobility.
3.3 Academic Record and Versions
The academic record, presented in Figure 5, can
aggregate translations in various languages. The
academic record is composed by records. Each
elementary record has its own language.
The model is flexible and expansible and can be
improved incrementally. A simple control of
versions mechanism is implemented, see the
representation in Figure 7. The record has the
corresponding version.
Figure 7: Control of versions.
A STUDENT PERSONAL SYSTEM FOR BOLOGNA PROCESS MOBILITY
197
3.3.1 Student Data
The student data is the same, do not changes,
whatever the language is used. The element in the
root of each academic record is showed in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Student Data.
3.3.2 Qualifications
Part of the model for the qualifications of a student
is represented in Figure 9.
Figure 9: Qualifications.
3.3.3 The Work Experience
The modulation for the work experience is described
in Figure 10.
To illustrate the work experiences of the model,
for a Java programmer see Example 5.
<WorkExperiences>
(…) <WorkExperience rdf:ID="WE01">
<StartDate>2009-01-01</StartDate>
<EndDate>2009-12-31</EndDate>
<Occupation>Java Programmer
</Occupation>
<MainActivities>
Development of Java Applications
</MainActivities>
<EmployerName>JavaSofts
</EmployerName>
<EmployerAddress>Liberty Street -
Lisbon</EmployerAddress>
<TypeBusinessSector>Informatics
</TypeBusinessSector>
<Skills> (…)
<Skill rdf:ID="WOEXS-WE01-S01">
<Code>17344</Code>
<Description>Java</Description>
</Skill> (…)
</Skills>
</WorkExperience>
</WorkExperiences>
Example 5: The Work Experience of the student.
Figure 10: Work Experiences.
3.3.4 Extracurricular Unit
The formation unit of the extracurricular unit is
composed by the following terms presented in
Figure 11. The element Formation aggregates the
professional experiences of the extracurricular
courses.
Figure 11: Formation Unit of the Extra Curricular Unit.
3.3.5 Contract of Studies
A contract of studies is celebrated between the
student and the institutions to formalize the terms of
the mobility process. The contract is formed by
transcript of records represented in Figure 12. An
example of a study contract includes the student id,
the institution administering the study, the course
unit etc.
KMIS 2009 - International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing
198
Figure 12: Transcript of Records of the CS.
3.4 The Course Plan
The course plan characterizes a specific course by
the means of descriptive elements of the curricular
structure and the studies plan. The complete element
qualification is also composed by course units,
already presented in Figure 4. The individual studies
plan places the student in the context of a
determined course. The student must conclude the
total of ECTS in determined scientific areas.
3.5 The Academic Training
An academic training includes the qualification is
characterized by the main field of study, the course
unit, the total lectures etc.
4 FUTURE WORK
The proposed model for BP student mobility is an
open model that needs to be continuously improved
and consolidated. In that sense the following themes
are suggested: (i) To propose a model for elements
of the Bologna process not addressed in this paper;
(ii) To explore the possibility to develop or adopt an
existing ontology; (iii) To define a complete and
dynamic flow of work processes to support the
mobility of the student between institutions of higher
education. (iv) To create a model of learning with
the proposed model using: Case-based learning or
Case-based reasoning.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper proposes a personal acadeemic system
supported by a BP mobility knowledge model for
students in the European area (Covelinhas E., 2008).
Bologna Declaration demands for a common
background based on student skills management.
The proposed system addresses this key issue in
order to widely support BP that needs to be
implemented until 2010.
The inclusion of emergent ideas and orientations,
like the semantic web, allows and suggest the use of
RDF language which is flexible and where the data
can be updated in any order.
The discussion of ideas about the option between
other models of knowledge representation and this
model is still valid.
The main contributions of this paper are: (1) a
characterization of the components of the mobility
of a student in the European space; (2) a model that
is a complete and compliant solution for the existing
legislation, namely Portuguese legislation; (3) the
implementation in RDF/RDFS allows the use of the
emergent query language SPARQL (Query
Language for RDF); (4) a functional prototype
developed in our laboratory.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper is based in the work of Eduardo
Covelinhas (Covelinhas E., 2008), we would like to
thank Eduardo for his valuable work.
REFERENCES
B..J. Krämer (2003), CUBER für die Ausbildung á la
carte, in: G. Simonis (ed.), Lernort Bologna
Declaration Communiqué of the meeting of European
Ministers in charge of Higher Education,Prague,May
19th 2001, ec.europa.eu/education/policies/
educ/bologna/bologna.pdf.
CRE et al, 2000. Confederation of EU Rectors‟
Conferences and the Association of European
Universities (CRE), 2000. The Bologna Declaration:
an explanation.
Eduardo Covelinhas, 2008. The Bologna Process in the
Semantic Web. Master thesis, Instituto Superior de
Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL).
A STUDENT PERSONAL SYSTEM FOR BOLOGNA PROCESS MOBILITY
199