ISHS Acta Horticulturae 350: I International Symposium on Education and Training in Horticulture
A NEW SWEDISH MASTER OF SCIENCE IN HORTICULTURE |
| Author: | I. Hjalmarsson |
| Abstract:
The present university debate in Sweden focuses on undergraduate education. This can partly be seen as a reaction to the bias towards research that developed during the eighties. Critical voices against the quality of education led the government to appoint a Higher Education Commission three years ago. Freedom, responsibility and competence are keywords in the commission report. This motto - for students and teachers alike - is chosen to mark a change in perspective on higher education in Sweden, and at the same time represent a return to classical academic ideals. A basic consideration is the raising of the status of education at undergraduate level at the universities, concomitantly creating more feedback between students and researchers. The commission favours active learning before passive teaching and long courses studied in parallel before short courses studied in sequence. It is considered important that examinations are not predominantly aimed at knowledge of facts, but rather problem-analysis, synthesis and understanding. Students should not only become highly trained experts but also gain intellectual autonomy and develop their critical skills. The desire to suffuse undergraduate education with more humane values is illustrated with the growth of introductory courses, so called "common core" courses, at Swedish universities. These courses are aimed at marking the break with secondary school, emphasising the wholeness of knowledge as well as raising philosophical and ethical questions. Two more commissions have had significance in the reconstruction of the study programme leading to a Master's degree in Horticulture. The Ministry of Agriculture Review of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SUAS) is the first of its kind in Sweden. Never before has a whole Swedish university been evaluated. The evaluation team states that the level at graduation seems to be more that of good professionals than academically trained graduates. A better basis of theory, basic sciences and methodology is recommended. | |
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