Re - Peter van Mench's discussion of comparison of standards (below):
One critically important distinction in any Credit Accumulation and Transfer
Scheme (CATS) is obviously between undergraduate (Batchelor's) and
Postgraudate (Master's) credits - which are taught and assessed at very
different levels: marking scales are clearly not comparable between
undergraduate and postgraduate courses (nor indeed perhaps between a
Level 1/Part I undergraduate course taken in the student's 1st or 2nd
year of studies
and a Level 2 or 3 (Part II in the Cambridge Tripos system -
widely used by many other longer-established English universities)
taken in the 3rd or 4th year of the degree.
In the case of UK Universities there is also a very long tradition of
external comparisons in quality control through the appointment of
External Examiners who are required to certify each year that the standards
achieved are appropriate to those of a Master's degree within the
generality of UK universities. For example, from 1991 - 1995 the
External Examiner here at City was Ian Wolfenden, Head of the Manchester
University Gallery and Museum Studies course, and he has now been
succeeded by Ian Carradice, Head of that at St Andrews University, while
I am the External Examiner at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. Such
arrangements are a great help in assuring both students and
actual and potential employers that standards are directly comparable
from one specialised course to another.
International comparisons are also quite common within Europe, and
with increasing cooperation between centres and courses, and
increased student mobility these are going to become more and more common.
For example, within the past two or three years our City University students
have undertaken parts of their Master's level studies (including
Postgraduate Diploma - which is at the same intellectual level though less
extensive) in Barcelona, Paris, Dublin, Edinburgh and Groningen (Netherlands),
while we have received students from all of these as well as from
Aarhus (Denmark).
There is also an increasing tendency to involve overseas expertts as
external examiners. For example the External Examiner for our MA in Arts
Criticism is Prof. Nicole Boireau of the University of Metz, France.
The external examiner system is expensive, especially for courses with
limited number of students, and the costs are of course even greater where
international examiners are used, but it is a most important part of the
whole system of quality assurance and consistency and comparability of
academic standards.
Patrick Boylan
===============================================
On Fri, 9 Feb 1996, Peter van Mensch wrote:
> The present Museum-L discussion on MA degrees and certificate vs. diplome
> brings in mind the latest issue of Museums Journal (Febr. 1996). This issue
> contains an interesting article on museum studies programmes in the UK and
> the huge oversupply of museum and heritage courses ('The great skill
> overkill'). One of the items discussed is the necessity of validation. From
> my observations I learned that it is very difficult to judge the level of a
> course. The number of credit hours is a doubtful criterion. For example, our
> undergraduate course (4 years full-time) takes 4 x 1680 = 6720 hours (real
> hours = 168 credits ?). Our master's course (1,5 year full-time) takes 2400
> hours (= 60 credits ?). How to compare this with the 18/30 credit hours of
> the Arizona State University? I think there is a need of comparable
> standards. It will be an important task of the ICOM International Committee
> of Training of Museum Personel (ICTOP) to develop a workable approach.
>
> Peter van Mensch
> lecturer of theoretical museology and museum ethics
> Reinwardt Academy
> (= Faculty of Museology of the Amsterdam School for the Arts)
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> >>> Ok, I have another question. In info I've recevied from
> >>> universities some say a MA in museum studies and other a certificate.
> >>> What is the difference?
> >>> Amy Johnson
> >>>
> >>> [log in to unmask]
> >
> >At Arizona State University, where I was briefly in the Museum Studies
> >Certificate program, the M.A. was a 30 plus credit hour program and the
> >certificate was only 18 hours. It was not necessary to have a master's
> >prior to taking this program, but it was considered best to combine the
> >certificate with another M.A., such as in Art History (this particular
> >Museum Studies program was in the Dept. of Anthropology). Sometimes I
> >wonder if I made the wrong choice in dumping the program at ASU...any
> >feedback?
> >
> >
> Peter van Mensch
> lecturer of theoretical museology and museum ethics
> Reinwardt Academie
> Dapperstraat 315
> 1093 BS Amsterdam
>
> e-mail [log in to unmask]
>
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