Translation of Credits and Grades in Student Exchange Programs: the Experience of an Institution in Co-operation with two others

Translation of Credits and Grades in Student Exchange Programs: the Experience of an Institution in Co-operation with two others Authors: Marios Kassinopoulos, Higher Technical Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus. marios.hti@cytanet.com.cy Melvyn Dodridge, University of Derby, School of Computing & Technology, Kedleston Road, Derby, UK m.dodridge@derby.ac.uk Abstract International cooperation in students exchange programs gained an important place in Higher Education all over the word. A particular effort is done in the European Union. The European Program of Tertiary Education Socrates/Erasmus finances among other activities, Student Exchange programs and it is giving excellent results. The Electrical Department of the Higher Technical Institute (HTI) Nicosia, Cyprus participates in the Erasmus program since 1999. It has cooperation in students exchange activity, among other Institutions, with Derby University in UK and Vaasa Polytechnic in Finland. The educational system of these Institutions is different from the system used in HTI and some problems may appear to the home Institution as regards the transferability of the credits and grades. As a result an appropriate method is required for the translation of the credits and grades acquired by the exchange students abroad, like the use as reference of the ECTS credits. This paper considers the experience gained from the translation of the credits and grades of HTI students who studied for a semester in Derby University in UK and Vaasa Polytechnic in Finland. Index Terms Credits, Grades, ECTS, Translation, Exchange Students INTRODUCTION The Higher Technical Institute (HTI) Nicosia Cyprus offers 3-years courses in Electrical, Mechanical, Marine and Civil Engineering, and Computer Studies. HTI participates in the European program of Tertiary Education Socrates/Erasmus since 1998 with teacher and students exchanges. In general these exchanges do not create any particular important problem. On the contrary the positive aspect is very important. Nevertheless in the case of student exchanges some times the translation of credits and grades requires special attention. A particular interest appears in the case where the co-operating Institutions have a different academic system with a different credit and grading system. In these cases the translation of credits and even more the translation of grades cannot be achieved always in an accurate way. This may result to a home grade, for the exchange students, which may be different from what they really merit. Here we will examine the method applied by HTI, to translate the credits and grades of HTI exchange students who participated in the Erasmus program. We will study the case of cooperation with University of Derby in UK and Vaasa Polytechnic in Finland. The three Institutions, HTI, Derby and Vaasa have a different academic system and a translation of the credits and grades of the host Institution was necessary for the exchange students on their return home. The use of the ECTS system has proven to be very useful. ECTS CREDIT AND GRADING SYSTEM The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) has been created by the European Union Higher Education Commission to facilitate the student exchange activities and to give a reference for translation of credits among the European Institutions [1]. The ECTS credits by definition reflect the "quantity of work" each course unit requires in relation with the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full semester or year. 30 ECTS credits are associated to a full workload in one semester and 60 ECTS credits to a year. By quantity of work we mean lectures, practical work, seminars, fieldwork, private study in the library or at home, and examinations or other assessment activities. So ECTS is based on a full workload and not limited to contact hours only. To translate now a local credit of an Institution in one country, in ECTS credits, we proceed as follows. We consider the number of the total local credits normally required in a semester, say Y, and then we divide 30 by Y. For example if in Greece the degree program requires 15 credits for a semester, then 1 credit in Greece is equal with 30 divided by 15, otherwise 2 ECTS. In relation with the grading system the method applied is of course different. The grades do not reflect the quantity of the work, but the quality of the work required in completing a full semester or year. The ECTS grading scale is based on the classification of the students work in their class and is given in Table 1. 1

CREDIT AND GRADING SYSTEM OF CO-OPERATING INSTITUTIONS The educational, credit and grading systems of HTI and the co-operating Institutions, University of Derby and Vaasa Polytechnic, are explained below. HTI HTI is an Institution of Higher Education offering 3-year courses in Electrical, Mechanical, Marine and Civil Engineering, and in Computer Studies. The co-operation that we examine in this study is between the Electrical Department of HTI and the other two Institutions mentioned above. HTI use a mix of semester (15 weeks) and through semester modules. But as there is an assessment at the end of each semester covering all the subjects taught in the semester, the through semester modules can be easily considered as semester modules [2]. In general a module has a staff contact time of 60 hours (2 hours per week for 30 weeks) and student directed study time of 120 hours, making a total of 180 hours. This is associated to 4 credits or 2 credits per semester. The credit system used in HTI is similar to the system used mainly in USA. This system defines that a minimum of 45 hours work is required by the student, for each unit of credit. An hour of work represents a minimum of 50 minutes of contact time, which is the standard length of class duration used at HTI, Derby and Vaasa, or 60 minutes of independent study work. For lecture/discussion classes, this requirement equates to 15 contact hours plus 30 hours of directed study making a total of 45 hours. This can be considered as the notional learning time for one credit point. The 45 hours however is a constant even though the value of components for different study modes can vary. The standard module of the theory type, which comprises lectures, therefore attracts four credit points however laboratory type modules only attract half of this at two credit points because it is considered that less directed study time is required in this type of module. This is quite different to that employed at Derby where credit is awarded solely at the achievement of learning outcomes. For the HTI Diploma it is required at least 105 HTI credits. The Grading system used in HTI is on a percentage scale. For the year subjects there are two Mid Semester exams weighted 15% each one, one Semester exam (odd) weighted 30% and the final Semester exam (even) with 40%. For the semester subjects there is one Mid Semester exam weighted 30% and an other final Semester exam with weight the rest 70%. The passing mark at the end of the module is 50%. Modules are separated into two groups, non-transferable and transferable, where both types, except when they are elective, may be considered as core. DERBY The University of Derby offer 3-year honours degree courses and 2-year Diplomas in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Construction & Civil Engineering. Product Design and many more focussed on the entertainment industry, all being of modular construction. Most programmes are delivered through semester. Each semester comprises 12 weeks of tuition and in addition there are block study periods at the end of each semester and an examination period at the end of the spring semester. Programme modules are defined by their length and status. Module status is core, prescribed or optional. Core modules must be passed but others need not, however there are requirements regarding credit volume and level at the end of each year. The majority of modules are of standard length where the staff contact time is 48 hours (two hours per week for 24 weeks). The student notional learning time is 150 hours making the directed study time 102 hours, just over double the contact time. There is the equivalent of eight standard modules in each of the three years making the notional learning time in each year 1200 hours. The 10-hour credit system, in which one credit point represents 10 hours of notional student learning time, has almost been universally adopted in the UK. Each module therefore attracts 15 credit points based on the notional time, accumulating to a volume in each year of 120 points making a total of 360 and 240 points for the degree and diploma respectively. UK HE levels 4, 5 & 6 apply to years 1, 2 & 3 respectively, although University regulations allow some credit at the level below in the second and third year. Outcomes based assessment is used throughout with module credit only being awarded on the successful completion of all of the attached outcomes. An alphabetical grading system is used with 16 grades comprising 12 pass grades ranging from D- to A+, two referral and two fail grades. All modules, except project based ones, have formal tuition and are subject based having a theory and practice element. There are no modules dedicated solely to laboratory work, which is commonly practised in other engineering departments, including the HTI. 2

VAASA Vaasa Polytechnic in Finland is a multilingual Higher Education Institution offering 4-year courses in three Educational Units. Technology and Communication, Business Economics and Tourism, and Health Care and Social Services. The available Degree in Engineering is Bachelor. The academic year in Vaasa is separated in 4 Periods. Each Period consist of 8 weeks with exams and breaks between. We have modules of one Period and modules of two Periods. There are 3 types of modules. The Theory plus Laboratory modules, the Projects and the Industrial Training. The scope of a Degree program is 140-160 Vaasa credit units. The credit units used in Vaasa are almost equivalent to the HTI Credits. One credit unit represents an average of 40 hours of student work. The Grading system applied in Vaasa is completely different from that used in HTI. The assessment takes place only once at the end of the Module. The Grates are 0,1,2,3,4,5 and the passing mark is 1. HTI EXCHANGE STUDENTS HTI began its student and staff exchange activities under Erasmus program since 1998, with the signature of a Bilateral Agreement for cooperation between the Electrical/Electronic Department and the Technology and Communication unit of Vaasa Polytechnic. Similarly a cooperation under Erasmus program was established in 2000-01 between the Electrical/Electronic Department of HTI and the School of Computing and Technology, at University of Derby in the UK. Derby and HTI had already established a co-operation before 2001 which resulted in the successful accreditation of the HTI Diploma by the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) under the UK's new SARTOR [3]. Until now 7 HTI students have done studies of one semester duration in Vaasa Polytechnic and 4 others in Derby. Comparing the modules offered by the three Institutions we can see that the program of HTI and University of Derby are very similar. Almost all the modules, which are offered in the third semester in HTI, are offered at Derby. As a result the exchange of students in this period does not create any important academic problems. On the contrary the modules offered in Vaasa do not match very well with the program of HTI. In addition to this there is also a problems with the timetable. More precisely one non-transferable module, the Electrical Machines, was not offered at all and another non-transferable module the Digital Electronics was offered in the even semester (Period 3). In order not to penalize the students and encourage the student exchange activity, special intensive courses were organized in HTI when the students returned from abroad. We should mention also the case of an additional module, Electronics, for which there was also a problem with the timetable in Vaasa. In this case the host Institution organized special course for this module for all Erasmus students. In a general way we may say that finally the exchange of HTI students with Vaasa has proved more difficult. As regards now Transferable subjects which are not offered in the host Institutions these subjects could be taken in the next semester or year. This was the case of Workshops and English language, which were not offered in Derby. We note also the case of the elective modules. The exchange students were able to make a choice of modules in the host Institution, with an equal number of credits, (or more) with the home Institution s elective credits. Another problem can be met in cases where a module chosen by the exchange students in the host Institution, associated to a module offered in the home Institution, has a different number of credits from what is required in the home Institution. For example the Mathematics in Vaasa are associated to 2 Vaasa credits. After translation to HTI credits this module takes 1.5 credits. As the number of credits required for this module by HTI is 3, additional work should be done, by the exchange student. In this kind of problem we have two types of solution. In case that the difference of credits, between the translated credits and the required credits, is less than 1 credit, additional work is expected to be done by the exchange student. This can be for example an assignment or a small project or even extra tutorials. In case that the difference is 1 credit or more the student should take an extra module with the required number of credits. GRADE TRANSLATION It was mentioned before, that the Grading system in HTI, University of Derby and Vaasa Polytechnic is different. We know also that the ECTS grading system can provide information on student s performance but in fact it cannot replace the institutional grades. So an appropriate method is required in each case, in order to translate the grades from one system to the other. HTI uses the percentage scale for grading system with passing mark 50%. In the methods applied by HTI to translate the grades of its exchange students, which are explained below, it was important to compare the pass/ threshold values of the home and both host Institutions. 3

As it was given before the grading scale of Vaasa Polytechnic is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. We note that the passing mark is 1. So the 1 is associated with the 50% pass mark of HTI. Then a division by 5 was done of the percentage range from 50 to 100, in order to estimate the percentage range of each grade from 1 to 5. Finally the middle value of each range was considered as the translated value for HTI grades for each grade of the Vaasa Polytechnic. It is given below in Table 2 the translation in HTI grades of all the grades of Vaasa Polytechnic. In the case of the University of Derby, the Grading system is D-, D, D+, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A, A+. The threshold for achieving a learning outcome (pass mark) is D-. This value on a percentage scale is associated to 37%. Unfortunately the different grades A,B,C,D are not associated to a proportional range of a percentage scale. For example B is associated to the percentage range 60-69 % and A to 70-100 %. The proportionality of the grades on a percentage scale is given in Table 3. So for the translation of the grades of Derby into HTI grades, these two factors, pass mark and non-linear scaling, were taken in account. The pass mark D- was associated to greater than 49% (HTI grade). The final translation of the grades is shown in the Table 3. It is clear that these translations in both cases are not perfect. Some students may be found themselves disadvantaged compared with others. But in any case the possible error depends on the range of grades of the host institution. CREDIT TRANSLATION For the translation of the credits the method applied was simpler. The utilization of the ECTS grades as a reference scale has proven very useful. The credits of both Institutions, Derby and Vaasa were given together with their associated ECTS credits. Taking now in account the relationship between HTI credits and ECTS, the translation of the Derby and Vaasa credits into HTI credits could be accomplished without any problem. It was given that a Derby credit equals 2 ECTS credits and 1 Vaasa credit equals 1.5 ECTS credits. Taking now in consideration that 1 HTI credit equals 2 ECTS credits we may translate in each case the credits easily. We note that we try to keep integer values of credits or at least 0.5 credits in some cases. It is given in Table 4 the modules chosen by an HTI exchange student, who studied for a semester in Vaasa Polytechnic. Similarly in Table 6 we see the modules taken by an HTI exchange student in University of Derby. In Table 5 and Table 7 we can see the translated grades and credits of the 2 students above. Both exchanges took play in 2002-03. We note that in some cases the translated credits do not satisfy the credit requirement of the home Institution HTI. As it was explained previously additional work is required for those modules. DISCUSSION OF TRANSLATION ISSUES There is no doubt that International cooperation and in particular student and staff exchange activities are of high priority in Higher education today. A great effort is undertaken in Europe recently to increase the students and staff mobility in purpose to establish a common system in Higher Education in Europe [4]. The use of a common credit is indispensable in order to reach this goal. In this purpose the use of the ECTS credit developed by the European Union-Higher Education Committee has been proved very useful. The success of the ECTS has now permitted to the EU to decide continue to the next step. This step is the policy for a common credit in the whole EU used not only by exchange students but by all European students. The translation of credits and grades required in cases where the Institutions in cooperation have different educational system requires a lot of attention in order to avoid significant errors and penalize students. As we have seen this is not always possible. In case of small errors in grades it is not very important but in case of errors in credits this may result to additional work for the student. Our experience has shown that the translation of credits does not present any serious problem. In the case that there is a reference credit like the ECTS the translation can be done almost immediately. In case that there is not a reference credit, then the translation becomes a difficult task. For the translation we have to go to the definition of the credit for each institution and work appropriately. As regards the translation of the grades the experience has shown that we have some weak points. Grading systems with a small number of grade levels, for example from 0 to 5 like the system in Vaasa, cannot be translated with accuracy on a percentage scale. Attention must also be taken for the systems like the one in Derby, where the different levels of the grades, like A, B, C, D do not represent a linear scale. For the translation into a linear percentage scale, a mathematical operation is required taking into account, this factor and the passing mark. In order to minimize errors and avoid many calculations, the best solution is to require from the host Institutions to give the grades of the exchange students in a percentage scale. With this scale it is much easier the translation of grades in any system that may have the various Institutions. And the translation will be accurate and fair to the students and the home Institution. A positive step for the simplification of the problems of translation of credits and grades will be the use of semester modules in Higher education in general. Many exchange students continue their studies abroad for one semester duration 4

only. In the case of HTI there were 12 outgoing and 5 incoming students and all of them have chosen exchange of one semester only. With credit point systems based on semester modules, it is much easier for the students to find subjects in the host Institution, the syllabus of which is close to those of the home Institution. With year subjects there are more possibilities for the syllabus, to include important differences. The other advantage of semester modules regarding students exchange mobility is related to the transfer of credits and grades. The credits and grades taken by exchange students are final and the students can continue their studies without any further complications. In case for example that the home Institution has through semester modules and the host Institution has semester modules, like the case HTI and Vaasa, then the credits and grades taken by exchange students are considered as part of the credits and grades of the through semester module in the home Institution. If now the final exams are covering the whole syllabus and if also the student fails in the exams, then some problems may appear regarding the status of the student and the credits and grades of the foreign Institution. We may have similar problems also in the case that an exchange student follows a through semester module in the host Institution and has to transfer credits and grades after a semester. The host Institution has to give credits and grades in the middle of the year without the appropriate exams sometimes and these credits should be considered as final credits at home Institution. So all these problems can be avoided if the cooperating Institutions are using a similar academic system. Fortunately many Institutions are moving in this direction today. HTI is using a mixed system with semester and through semester modules and is now moving to pure semester module system. Vaasa also is thinking of passing to a semester module system from the through four period system that they apply today. On the contrary Derby and increasingly in the UK institutions are moving back to through semester delivery in engineering programs. CONCLUSIONS The University of Derby has been unable to send students to Cyprus to complete the bi-lateral agreement. The reasons for this are difficult to assess but in general in most institutions in the UK there are more incoming than outgoing students. Language difficulty is sometimes a barrier but not in the case of Cyprus as the course is taught in English. The student perspective is an important one, and the comments received by the HTI students studying at Derby contrasting the experience they had at Derby with their own institution is interesting. They found the assignment work, which is all assessed, educationally more satisfying because it gave them a deep learning experience in certain module topics. Comments made included more emphasis on student centred learning, which included research in the Learning Centre, learning to work alone and not being satisfied on just what is given in formal tuition. Because the students were only at Derby in the autumn semester they were not able to experience the final examination in the modules they undertook. Fortunately the grades and credits which the took during the autumn semester and the translation of them did not create any serious problems and the overall experience for the students and both Institutions was very positive. As regards the student exchange activity between HTI and Vaasa, fortunately there were exchanges in both directions. the last two years. Although there were more difficulties in relation with the choice of the subjects in both directions the overall experience here also was very positive. It is added finally that in both cases of collaboration between HTI and Derby, and HTI and Vaasa, in addition to student exchanges there was a successful cooperation in staff exchange activity too. For three years now a total of six members of the academic staff, three from HTI and three from Vaasa, have been exchanged for teaching purposes for duration of one week. Similarly last year, there was also a staff exchange activity between HTI and Derby. In both cases these staff exchanges gave excellent results, something that confirms that International Cooperation between Academic Institutions has to be promoted all over the academic world. In this purpose a common policy for the credits and grades awarded to students will be very helpful and will facilitate the students exchanges. REFERENCES [1] "European Credit Transfer System", European Commission, March 1998 [2] Dodridge, M. & Kassinopoulos, M., "Assessment of student learning: The experience of two European Institutions where outcomes based assessment has been implemented", (ICEE 2002), Manchester, UK, 2002 [3] Dodridge, M. & Kassinopoulos, M., "Accreditation under new SARTOR - a European experience", International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE 2001), Oslo, Norway, 2001 [4] " The Bologna Declaration", Joint declaration of European Ministers of Education, Bologna Italy, June 1999 5

FIGURES AND TABLES TABLE 1 THE ECTS GRADING SYSTEM ECTS GRADES Percentage of successful students Definition normally achieving the grade A 10 Excellent outstanding performance with only minor errors B 25 Very good above the average standard but with some errors C 30 Good generally sound work with a number of notable errors D 25 Satisfactory fair but with significant shortcomings E 10 Sufficient performance meets the minimum criteria FX - Fail some more work required before the credit can be awarded F - Fail considerable further work is required TABLE 2 VAASA AND HTI GRADES Vaasa Grades 0 1 2 3 4 5 Associated 0<50 50 59 60 69 70 79 80 89 90-100 HTI % range Associated Fail 55 65 75 85 95 HTI Grade TABLE 3 DERBY AND HTI GRADES Derby Grades Fail D-, D, D+ C-, C, C+ B-, B, B+ A-, A, A+ Weight range % < 37 37-49 50-59 60-69 70-100 HTI Grade % Fail 52, 55, 58 61, 64, 67 70, 73, 76 80, 88, 96 TABLE 4 MODULES OF EXCHANGE STUDENT IN VAASA No Modules Vaasa Grades out of 5 Credits - Vaasa ECTS 1 Communication Skills 4 3 4.5 2 Electronics 3 2 3 3 Basics of data processing 5 1 1.5 4 Electrical Safety 3 1 1.5 5 Communication Systems 3 2 3 6 Analytic Geometry and Algebra 1 2 3 TABLE 5 TRANSLATION OF GRADES AND CREDITS OF THE STUDENT IN VAASA No HTI Modules Associated Grades Translated Expected Difference Comments t o Vaasa Modules out of 45 HTI credits HTI credits of credits 1 English language 85/100 2.25 2 0.25 Final credit for the module 2 Electronics 34 1.5 2-0.25 Additional work required 3 Elective 95/100 1 2-1 Additional work required 4 Electrical Installation 34 1 2-1 Additional work required 5 Communication Engineering 34 1.5 2-0.5 Additional work required 6 Mathematics 25 1.5 3-1.5 Additional work required 6

TABLE 6 MODULES OF EXCHANGE STUDENT IN DERBY No Modules Derby Grades Credits per semester ECTS Derby Derby 1 Digital Electronics A- 7.5 4 2 Communication Technology A- 7.5 4 3 Electrical & Electronic Services Design B+ 7.5 4 4 Signals & Information Systems B+ 7.5 4 5 Linear Electronics A- 7.5 4 6 Electrical Systems Analysis A- 7.5 4 7 Linear Algebra and Applications A- 7.5 4 TABLE 7 TRANSLATION OF GRADES AND CREDITS OF THE STUDENT IN DERBY No HTI Modules Associated Grades Translated Expected Difference Comments t o Modules of Derby out of 45 HTI credits HTI credits of credits 1 Digital Electronics 36 2 2 0 2 Communication engineering 36 2 2 0 3 Electrical Installations 34 2 2 0 4 Elective 76/100 2 2 0 Final credit for the module 5 Electronics 36 2 2 0 6 Electrical Machines 36 2 2 0 7 Mathematics 36 2 3 1 Additional work required 7