On November 17, ANQA organised the first online workshop "Academic Programme Enhancement: Presenting Best Practices" for VET institutions, bringing together more than 100 specialists from the Armenian VET institutions.
Until now, such workshops were conducted for HEIs.
During the online workshop, two best practices in the development of subject programme and assessment criteria for students with employer participation were presented.
Yelena Martirosyan, deputy pedagogical director at the French-Armenian Vocational Education Center, introduced how they studied international practice in the development and implementation of the assessment criteria and then, in collaboration with the employer, developed a package of assessment criteria for students. It was emphasised that these criteria were initially designed for graduation exams to guide employer members of the graduation committee.
Ms. Martirosyan highlighted that the criteria undergo continuous enhancement, based on the employers’ recommendations and observations, as well as the results of participation in various competitions. Additionally, there is an effort to incorporate some elements of these assessment criteria into the teaching process.
Hasmik Matevosyan, acting director at the Sevan Multifunctional State College, described how they developed a subject programme and assignments for students in collaboration with the employer.
Ms. Matevosyan noted that some gaps were identified during the discussion of the qualitative requirements for alumni of the AP "Computing Equipment and Automated Systems Software" and the specialist’s job description. As a result, in collaboration with the employer, the education institution developed the subject programmes "Testing" and "SEO Standardisation for the Web", defined outcomes and created assignments aimed at their achievement. It was stressed that the subjects are taught by the employer representatives.
Following the presentations, the participants raised their questions, triggering a professional discussion.
ANQA Director Ruben Topchyan emphasised the importance of education institutions empowering themselves through mutual learning. Dr. Topchyan urged VET institutions’ representatives to prepare articles about their best practices, expressing his willingness to publish them on ANQA’s website