Aligning master’s curricula to national and institutional cultures across EU countries
Best practices Aligning master’s curricula to national and institutional cultures across EU countries Users: Training Providers (Public) | Theme: Cross-Border Initiatives | Action: Education Programmes/Courses | Beneficiaries: Training Providers (Public) HCAIM humancentered-ai.eu Barry Feeney, Technical University Dublin HCAIM is dedicated to developing a unique Human-Centred AI Master’s programme that combines ethical, technical, and practical education in AI. By creating specialised educational materials, the consortium ensures a consistent learning experience across partner institutions in Hungary, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands. While the programmes vary slightly depending on the resources and cultural contexts of participating universities, the diverse elective courses offer students the flexibility to build a personalised HCAIM portfolio aligned with their specific interests in AI. The challenge? The HCAIM consortium faced challenges in ensuring programme requirements across different countries and institutions were aligned, which complicated the standardisation of curricula and learning outcomes. Additionally, aligning the programme with the academic cultures of each university proved difficult, particularly when balancing an applied versus technological approach to AI education. Some partner universities prioritised practical, hands-on learning, while others focused on a theoretical, research-driven approach. This required a flexible yet consistent framework that ensured all students, regardless of location, received an industry-relevant AI education. Our solution HCAIM organised panels, learning events, and expert-led workshops, leveraging the collective expertise of all partners involved. These events contributed to the development of standardised study materials and provided students with valuable interdisciplinary insights. It created a shared knowledge framework in collaboration with industry experts and research centres, which ensured that the programme remained aligned with current AI trends, industry practices, and ethical considerations while maintaining academic flexibility. To ensure core consistency in the Masters degrees an agreed Body of Knowledge of 60 credits was adopted by University partners. This was then customised into each local Masters by the partner universities. Key takeaways When delivering programmes across institutions, it is important to standardise processes and contents. A BoK is the complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a professional domain. Tailor the BoK to meet national accreditation standards, ensuring that it aligns with the educational and regulatory frameworks of each participating country. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society. Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records. Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes: Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.