European Project : DecisionShip Ahoy!
"Good decisions at right times"
A 3 year project ! From september 2017 to August 2020
The nature and dynamics of change creates unpredictability in the European society. Professional life environments are more than ever Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA). This context makes decisions even more strategically critical. Entrepreneurship and Leadership skills have been extensively investigated during the last decade to meet EU Modernisation Agenda strategies It is now time to explore “Decisionship”. Yet, decision is not only about knowledge, it is also about skills. Whether they are to act as experts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths (STEM) or other fields, future Decision Makers should also be specifically prepared to making decisions in VUCA environments. This is the responsibility of HE and VET institutions: training future graduates, through a transversal skills approach, in Decisionship, so that they are able to turn knowledge into skills, and provide the best professional answer when faced with VUCA circumstances.
The first innovative aspect of DAhoy is to support the coherent inclusion of active and engaging pedagogical models. The second is to investigate Decision Making as a transversal skill, in association with three complementary dimensions:
- Maths-based Decision Making, with rationality;
- Social-based Decision Making, including people’s interdependencies and social identities;
- Career-based Decision Making, to better choose owns career path.
DAhoy is grounded in a clearer understanding of the perceptions and expectations of students and fully aligned with the strategic challenges of the partners to accelerate pedagogical innovations and nucleate their HE and VET systems. Through an exchanges of best practices among Schools, in the STEM and Business fields, DAhoy seeks (i) to share and confront HE educational innovations, practices and methods, in light of professional needs, (ii) to catalyse the engagement of learners with innovative courses, integrated in existing but evolving programmes, through novel educational initiatives, (iii) to develop and disseminate tools for assessment of such skills, via the learning outcomes approach, and (iv) to assesses their quality and achievements. DAhoy exploits and complements prior EU and national project results (FP7, H2020, LLP, Erasmus+ KA2, or French-like ANR) to create inclusive, active and experiential pedagogies for Decision Making skills, so as to render education systems more accessible and attractive.
DAhoy aims at defining and evaluating innovative Teaching and Learning activities to be integrated in educational frameworks at a systemic level, in line with the Bologna processes and quality assurance purposes, as ENQA and EQAVET recommendations for accreditation and quality enhancement. DAhoy will bring positive and long-lasting effects on the participating organisations and their staff and learners, and on other regional, national and European Institutions as formalized in its 8 target groups. It will output 3 guides, a Youtube channel, several publications and conference presentations. The guides include:
1. a taxonomy of Decision skills requirements and unified learning outcomes syllabus;
2. innovative models and kits for Decision skill training, transferable in many educational fields;
3. a D-SKILLS Framework, continuously integrative for programmes renewal.
7 European partners
The DAhoy partnership consists of a consortium of 7 top level expert partners (in France, Scotland, Spain, and Iceland) with a complementary expertise in Decision and specific expertise in HE and VET educational development, to produce high quality outputs. Including a national qualification framework partner, DAhoy promotes solutions for the recognition of competency acquired through innovative courses. With regard to the Career Decision Making dimension, as regional uncertain employment contexts exist, DAhoy should facilitate transitions between education and the labour market, and reinforces labour mobility. As a horizontal priority, DAhoy makes it possible to respond to the achievement of transversal high skills and relevant competences, in line with ET 2020 strategic objectives "Enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship" and "Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training".
Coordinating Institute of the project :
IMT Atlantique Bretagne Pays de la Loire
Project coordinator: A/Prof. S. Rouvrais
European Partners :
FREREF (Fondation des Régions Européennes pour la Recherche, l'Education et la Formation)
City of Glasgow College
SCQFP (Scottish Credit & Qualifications Framework Partnership)
FUEIB (Fundacio Universita Empresa De Les Illes Balears)