A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

59

March 2012

Winddat is a teaching indicators website for the development and analysis of degree programmes that was designed and developed within the context of the VSMA Framework for the ex-ante accreditation, monitoring, modification and accreditation of recognised degree programmes as a support tool for quality assurance of the development of university programmes of study. Winddat presents evidence in the form of uniform indicators for academic outcomes, the university admissions pre-registration process (preinscripció), resource availability, teaching staff, employers and graduate labour market outcomes, amongst other things, all of which is necessary evidence for system diagnosis and drawing up proposals for enhancement and corrective measures for the programmes of study offered by universities in Catalonia.

Winddat has been designed to give teaching staff and academic coordinators the necessary information for understanding and improving the analysis of programmes of study, so as to facilitate the monitoring of recognised programmes in Catalonia and provide support for decision-making and the drawing up of enhancement proposals. It provides detailed and homogeneous information on each programme of study and its relative position regarding other studies in the same university and in the higher education system in general in Catalonia.

Winddat has a second objective, i.e. to facilitate access to information on the world of the universities and thereby comply with the criteria of transparency. It is a versatile tool aimed especially at the academic community, although it is also for use by society in general. In this regard, the information contained in Winddat is also aimed at young people, their families and socio-cultural environment, in that it is designed to guide students (both those who want to go to university and those who are already at university) by providing data on the trend of academic outcomes in courses they are interested in. Using information that is available on Winddat, they can compare the situation of a particular degree course (admission grade, academic achievement, etc.) with that of previous years and other universities, and benchmarks are provided that keep them better informed about what study at university actually involves.

The information in Winddat fundamentally refers to the academic outcomes of the universities (the seven public universities in Catalonia) that form part of what is now the ten-year old UNEIX project. These seven universities participate in the university admissions pre-registration process and have also participated right from the very beginning in the graduate labour market outcomes surveys carried out by AQU Catalunya. It is envisaged that, in the medium term, Winddat will provide indicators, and to the same level of detail, on all universities in the higher education system in Catalonia, as they have all been participating in the UNEIX project for the last two years and, since 2011, in the survey on graduate labour market outcomes carried out by the Agency once every three years.

The indicators

The basic unit used to present the data is the degree. Data are provided through a series of indicators organised into five main areas:

• Students. An overview is given of the type of students, according to gender, age and university entrance requirements.
• Access and enrolment. Data is given on the student admissions pre-registration process, the courses offered, demand for places, the assignment of credits, and also the access and entrance requirements for the course and the number of required credits for the first year. The aim is to give an idea of the relationship between the supply of and demand for degree courses and the academic profile of students who are starting university studies.
• Teaching. This includes data on enrolment/registration (number of students and the percentage of enrolled credits) and academic planning. For the curriculum structure, indicators include the number of course credits, the number of courses/modules and classroom contact teaching hours.
• Teaching staff. This gives information on the type of teaching staff involved in the programme of study and the number of class hours they teach. Staff are classified according to their contractual relationship with the university and whether they have a doctorate degree or not.
• Academic outcomes. This gives data on the progress of students in a programme of study from the time they start through to when they complete their studies, either with graduation or by dropping out. The percentage is given for those who have graduated with the total study time, and also for those who dropped out and when. The way in which this information relates to the admission grade is also given.
• Career outcomes and mobility. This gives data from the 3rd graduate labour market outcomes survey carried out in 2011 on the graduate population from the 2006-2007 academic year. Data is also provided on enrolled students who participate in both national and international mobility programmes.

The objective with this information is to provide an overview from the time when students start at university through to when they enter the world of work (employment). The choice of indicators was agreed to by AQU Catalunya and the Catalan universities within the framework of the monitoring of recognised programmes and awards.

Browsing online

The indicators available for each programme of study can also be obtained for other aggregate units; for example, in a particular subject area, for just one university or all universities. Tabs are set out for this purpose, which can be used for more general browsing or for obtaining information on a specific degree course.

Catalonia

There are three tabs in this section:

• All universities

This includes information on the number of registered students, new entry students, graduates, mobility, doctoral theses and university staff (both teaching staff and administrative and service staff) at the twelve universities in Catalonia. It gives an overview of the system, and details on programmes of study are given in the other sections.

• Public universities

This contains information on the seven public universities. It is organised according to where studies are given and the branch of knowledge.

• Private universities

This gives aggregate information on the number of registered students, new entry students, graduates, mobility, doctoral theses and university staff (both teaching staff and administrative and service staff).

Universities

This gives detailed information on the university (one of the seven public universities plus the Universitat de Vic). The information is organised according to where studies are offered and the branch of knowledge. Icons for the university and branch of knowledge being consulted appear in upper right-hand corner of the display.

Information on programmes of study always appears in context so that it is possible to analyse the programme of study in relation to other courses in the same university or the same programme of study given in other universities.

Information on faculties gives an overview of all of the courses given in a faculty or school. Information on each course can also be accessed.

Studies

This sets out the information on recognised programmes of study given at the seven public universities and the Universitat de Vic, organised according to branch of knowledge and in groups to enable comparison between the outcomes of the relevant indicators for the programme of study among the various universities offering the same course.

Ongoing development of Winddat

The following improvements to Winddat are planned for 2012:

• Improvements in the response time in which data are made available for consultation and inquiry, so they can be adapted, as far as possible, to the monitoring timetable.
• Reporting in Excel and pdf format.
• An improved overview across all indicators (to facilitate comparison between universities).
• Translation of the contents into Spanish and English.
• Introduction of new indicators, including group size and more indicators from the graduate labour market outcomes survey.

Winddat is a statistics-based website that was developed as an instrument for reflection and transparency. It was made possible through collaboration between the universities, the Secretariat for Universities and Research (of the competent government department with jurisdiction over universities) and AQU Catalunya.