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Build upon governing documents

Pursuant to Chapter 1 Section 5 of the Swedish Higher Education Act, HEIs’ oper-
ations shall “promote understanding of other countries and of international cir-
16
cumstances”. It is up to each HEI to define what this entails for each course or
programme. The content of programmes is described in intended learning out-
comes that build upon qualitative targets, as specified in the Qualifications Ordi-
nance appended to the Higher Education Act. For individual HEIs, it is therefore
most convenient to clarify international and intercultural aspects in the course or
programme’s intended learning outcomes. This can be regarded as a chain where,
ideally, Chapter 1 Section 5 of the Higher Education Act is reflected in the HEI’s
and the courses and programmes’ (international) vision, which in turn affects
their intended learning outcomes.
Figure 1. The Higher Education Act and intended learning outcomes

Higher Education Act, Chapter 1 Section 5

HEI's vision Qualitative targets,

Higher Education
Programme's vision Ordinance

Programme's intended learning outcomes

Intended learning Intended learning Intended learning
outcomes, course outcomes, course outcomes, course

Example 1: Intercultural and international intended
learning outcomes as part of assessing the quality of
internationalisation

The European Consortium for Accreditation, ECA, has developed a model for
assessing an HEI’s internationalisation. ECA offers the opportunity to apply
for quality certification for internationalisation. International and intercul-
tural intended learning outcomes are one of several decisive criteria for
assessing the internationalisation of a programme or HEI.

To be awarded quality certification for internationalisation, it must be
clear that the HEI has a comprehensive structure for internationalisation.
This is assessed using five basic criteria:
– vision for internationalisation
– intended learning outcomes
– teaching and learning
– staff
– students

16 In its interim report, the Internationalisation Inquiry proposes a more precise wording
for the paragraph on HEIs’ internationalisation work.

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