Education standards and competence-oriented curricula – the Austrian Technical Colleges pursue a new way into the future!

Abstract

In Austria, Technical Colleges are thoseeducational institutions that train and educate the skilledtechnical staff required by Austrian universities and industry.These colleges have contributed a lot to Austria’s economicsuccess and every year about 8,000 young engineers leavethe technical schools to form a powerful work and studyforce. Therefore, it is particularly important that theeducation they receive meets the requirements of employersand that innovative developments are anticipated. As aconsequence, Austrian Technical Colleges have developedcurricula that rely on learning outcomes and competencebasedresults. This new orientation towards skills, knowledgeand competences is achieved through learning objectivesthat precisely describe the education chosen. How thesestandards were designed, matched with the curricula, andimplemented in colleges will be described in this paper.