Teaching psychology in Switzerland

after the Bologna reform

Jean Retschitzki, Carine Bétrisey & Mónica Maccabez-Arriola

University of Fribourg (Switzerland)

Third International Conference on Teaching of Psychology

July 12-16, 2008,

St. Petersburg, Russia

Overview

• Switzerland

• Swiss Universities

• The Bologna reform

• Main characteristics of the curriculum

• First tendencies in Fribourg

• Survey

Switzerland: a special country

• Confederation– Federal level

• Diplomacy, army, …

– Radical federalism• 26 ministers of education

– Universities are not national but cantonal

• 4 national languages– German, French, Italian, Romansh

FrenchItalian

German Romansh

Swiss universities

Psychology is taught in all Swiss universities:

3 French speaking

Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel

4 German speaking

Basel, Bern, Zurich, St Gallen

1 bilingual (German-French)

Fribourg

1 Italian speaking

Lugano

© 2008 OFS / BFS / UST

10%

11%

8%

12%

9%3%

21%

17%

9%

BaselBernFribourgGenevaLausanneNeuchatelZürichPolytechnical schoolsOthers

Number of students by university in Switzerland (all domains)

Integration of Psychology in Faculties in Swiss universities

Again big differencesPsychology has a Faculty by itself

Basel, Bern, Geneva (with education)

Included in the Faculty of philosophy Fribourg, Zurich

In the Faculty of Social and Political SciencesLausanne

In the Faculty of EconomicsNeuchâtel

Bologna reform in Psychology

The reform was introduced at different times and with different proceduresBasel was the first to adopt the new system in 2002

Fribourg was secondWe started in 2003, 5 years ago,

having the new system only for the new students

The first students just finished the Master last June

Geneva and Lausanne kept the former system until 2006They changed everything at once

These differences make it difficult to analyze the impact of the reform

Bologna reform in Psychology - 2

Before Bologna there were important differences with regards to the way the curriculum was organizedIn some universities (Geneva, Lausanne)

only Psychology

In others (Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Zurich) several domains: Major, Minor 1, Minor 2

We took the opportunity of Bologna to reduce these discrepancies

After Bologna, all psychological departments will have a similar system

Minimum duration of education

Even before the Bologna reform, there was an

agreement regarding the compulsory courses

But it was possible to be recognized as a

psychologist after 8 semesters

After Bologna, with the new system, 10

semesters is the new standard

Compatible with the European project

Common number of credits

A committee of the Directors of Swiss Departments of Psychology [KDIPS/CDIPS] has adopted the following standards:

300 ECTS credits in 5 years

– 180 ECTS in 3 years

Bachelor of Science in Psychology

– 120 ECTS in 2 years

Master of Science in Psychology

Contents of Bachelor studies

General introduction 3 - 9

Methods 27 - 33

Introduction to the main domains 30 - 57

Applications 6 - 27

Basic competences 6 - 15

Master studies

Two different aproaches:

1. Unique Master in Psychology with several domains

(e.g. major / minor)

Geneva, Lausanne

2. Content oriented

(clinical / general / work and organizational)

Fribourg

Different sizes of the Departments of Psychology

Number of Professors in Psychology:

Geneva 22

Zurich 20

Lausanne 15

Bern 13

Basel 8

Fribourg 8

Neuchatel 3

Paradox about the mobility

One of the arguments for introducing the

same system in all European Universities

was to favor mobility

It is now more difficult than before to spend

one or two semesters in a foreign university

What happened in Fribourg

I will now mainly present the situation in Fribourg

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First trends in Fribourg

Two years ago, the first students got the Bachelor

At the same time, Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchâtel started their Master program

Fribourg had introduced a selection fot the students who wanted to enter the Master in Clinical and Health Psychology

The result was clear:

Only 20 students or so were candidates for this specialised Master

The others disappeared

First trends - 2

We did not expect such a dramatic change

• Before Bologna, 80-100 new students began the 2nd cycle every

year

• After Bologna (these last two years),Only 20-25 new students entered the Master

program

A first conclusion

Students have changed their behaviorMany students do not continue immediately

after the Bachelor

• Some take a sabbatical

• Some try to do different kinds of training

• Some change the university

Our research project

Trying to apply to this problem the experimental approach that we recommend in our teaching

We decided to try to understand better what was happening with our students

Method

• 10 individual interviews with students in the 2nd or 3rd year of Bachelor– 30 to 45 minutes

• A questionnaire (based in part on the results of the interviews) :

37 students in 3rd year of Bachelor

Statistics of the changes among universities– More difficult because of the law (protection of

personal data)

Interviews / Main results

• Unexpectedly, students criticized the Bachelor program– Not enough choices

– Some repetitions

• They seem to choose very carefully the university for their Master program, taking into account several aspects– Personal professionnal project

– Variety of domains

– Orientation of clinical psychology

– ….

Questionnaire – Main results

1. Positive aspects - University of Fribourg

2. Negative aspects - University of Fribourg

3. Criteria for choosing Fribourg for Bachelor

4. Criteria for choosing the university for Master

5. Popularity of different domains

6. Information sources

Positive aspects - University of Fribourg

20

18

17

14

11

10

8

7

6

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

size of the university

offer of courses

conviviality, atmosphere

teaching staff

others

bilingualism

nearness, situation

organization, schedules

practice

Frequency of evocation of every subjectN = 111

Negative aspects – University of Fribourg

31

17

13

9

6

4

4

4

3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

organization, administration,secretariat, information

offer of courses

buildings

multidisciplinarity

teaching staff

reform of Bologna, CTC

bilingualism, coordinationFrench/German

others

Master

Frequency of evocation of every subjectN = 91

Criteria of selection for choosing the University of Fribourg for the Bachelor

3.0

2.7

2.7

2.5

2.4

2.4

2.3

2.3

2.3

2.2

2.2

2.0

1.9

1.9

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

programs

nearness

practice

information

size

opening

variety

bilingualism

good name

city

friends

costs

independence

housing

Average importance of every criterion of choiceN = 35

Criteria of selection for choosing a university for the Master

3.8

3.8

3.6

3.5

3.5

3.2

3.0

3.0

2.8

2.7

2.5

2.4

2.2

2.2

2.1

1.8

1.8

1.7

1.7

1.5

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

specializations

programs

variety

variety Masters

perspectives of career

information

practice

opening

good name

academic mobility

mobility in Switzerland

city

nearness

mobility abroad

size

independence

housing

bilingualism

costs

incompatibility

Average importance of every criterion of choiceN = 35*

Which fields of psychology are the most chosen for the Master ?

25.9

24.1

9.3

7.4

5.6

5.6

5.6

5.6

3.7

3.7

3.7

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

child and adolescent

clinical

educational

work

counselling and career guidance

social

neuroscience

economy

experimental

health

law

choices of fields of psychology for the master (% of all the answers)N = 54

Where do the students find informations about Masters ?

34

19

17

16

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Web sites

sessions of information

flyers

friends

others

Frequency of appearance of every source of informationN = 36*

Conclusions

• Obviously there is a need for changing something

– More choices in the Bachelor program– A more attractive Master program

• But it is not so simple– There are conflicting interests

• We need to deepen the study

• We should have a better communication

Thank you for

your attention