Bionika v tehniki

The evaluation of the professional study programme in Bionics in engineering at Ptuj College was carried out by a team of experts in accordance with the recommendations, criteria and benchmarks set by the National Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Quality in Higher Education. The assessment of the study programme was carried out against five standards in the area of Internal Quality Assurance and Improvement, Modification, Update and Implementation of Study Programmes. Ptuj College meets the requirements in only one area of assessment - Standard 5 " The protection of the rights of stakeholders in the study process shall be provided". In all four of the remaining standards, the expert team identified significant weaknesses or noncompliances and one partial compliance. In Standard 1 (Internal quality assurance and enhancement of the study program - Higher education institution evaluates and improves the content, structure and delivery of the study programme) and Standard 2 (Internal quality assurance and enhancement of the study program - According to self-evaluation report, tasks are completed based on previous self-evaluation), we identified several significant shortcomings in the monitoring and quality assurance of the study programme. The first aspect is the lack of a quality circle, which is mainly due to the low level of awareness and knowledge of quality assurance processes among teachers, but also among students. The second aspect is the quality of self-evaluation reports and action plans and the lack of focus of the quality assurance system on the study programme. In the area of assessment under Standard 3 (Changes and updates of the study programme) the expert group perceived a lack of monitoring and recording of changes to the study programme and related objectives, learning outcomes and competences. Under Standard 4 “The implementation of the study programme”, the expert group noted a variety of non-compliances related to the absence of an in-house library, the number of full-time teachers, the inadequacy of the recognition of lower level skills and the relationship between contact hours in the curricula and the implementation timetable. In identifying the strengths, we have focused on the distinct advantages of the Bionics in Engineering programme, highlighting only two, although there are certainly many more positive aspects. We have also highlighted a large number of opportunities for improvement that the Ptuj College can take advantage of to further develop and improve the quality of the assessed study programme. These opportunities relate to all the standards of the audit, and we highlight in particular opportunities in the areas of monitoring and quality assurance of the study programme, improving the way content is delivered to students, networking with foreign lecturers and guest lecturers from companies, more training opportunities for teachers and professional staff, and promotion of the bionics field in primary and secondary schools and in industry. At this point, the team would like to thank all those who made the visit to Ptuj College run smoothly: Filip Draženović and Anita Kajtezović, the NAKVIS experts, the Ptuj College management and all other stakeholders for their constructive cooperation during the interviews.