AECEF NEWSLETTER 1/1996

by Professor Jiri Witzany and Dr. Ivo Vavra
Faculty of Civil Engineering, CTU Prague

The previous article devoted to curricula and study plan analysis which was published in the AECEF Newsletter 2/1994 described in detail the initial research of this issue carried out between January 1 and September 30, 1994 using data from 1982, 1987 and 1992. This research work was supported by a grant within the Tempus Complementary Measures scheme for 1993/94. The contractor of this research task was the AECEF President, Professor Ji°Ý Witzany. The AECEF Secretariat continued the research taking into account newly acquired data related to 1994. This article presents the latest outcomes and results of the latter research. These new research data do not have the same value as the data obtained in 1982, 1987 and 1992 as they were obtained for another set of universities, in a shorter time interval of two years. This fact diminishes the impact of the data on the prognosis of the long-term development of the studied factors. Therefore, the two sets of research data are treated separately.

Structure of Curricula, Types of Courses

The structure of curricula of 1994 is given in Table 1, while the types of courses are shown in Table 2. The results of the curricula structure research carried out in 1994 do not differ significantly from the results of the research done in 1992. The research results concerning the types of courses show greater difference both in undergraduate and postgraduate study stressing the importance of seminars in 1994 as opposed to 1992. This difference between the two periods studied may be caused by a difference in the set of universities which were researched. Among the universities studied in 1994, universities preferring this type of instruction prevailed. In addition, certain differences in the percentage of laboratory instruction were also found.

Table 1. Representation of individual subject groups in undergraduate,
postgraduate and doctoral study of CE and Surveying

Table 2. Representation of different types of courses in undergraduate,
postgraduate and doctoral study of CE and Surveying

Duration of Study

The basic study period is a semester for 94 percent of the universities, a trimester for 3 percent, and a year for the other schools. Table 3 shows numbers of instruction weeks, the recommended and real duration of study, length of field training, and visits to the construction site.

Table 3.

Study specialisation

The research covered the main fields of study. Table 4 presents percentage of occurrence of the fields of study at individual schools, and percentage of studentsĺ interest in the individual study fields in the respective years, including 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1994. The Table shows a significant increase in the numbers of students of environmental engineering. The research results of 1994 must be studied separately. Some of schools included in the research did not provide clearly defined branches of study (study programs) and specialisation. Students at such universities specialise by selecting courses recommended by their advisors.

Table 4. Study Specialization

Finishing of the Studies and Types of Degree

Studies are concluded by passing final examinations at 56.7 per cent of schools, while 63.3 percent require an elaboration of a diploma project or a thesis. The period of time devoted to the work on the diploma project ranges between 7 to 56 weeks, in average it is 17 weeks. The work on the project usually starts in the last semester of study, at 72 percent of schools it cannot begin before passing required examinations. The diploma project must be finished before the end of studies.

Table 5 shows percentages of schools awarding the listed university degrees in 1992 and 1994, and percentages of the degrees awarded in 1982, 1987, and 1992.

Table 6 presents changes in the percentages of undergraduate and postgraduate students, and percentages of female and male students at universities included in the research.

Table 5. Percentage of Awarded Degrees

Table 6. Types of Students

Categories of Teachers and Their Teaching Loads

This part of the research focused on percentages of teachers in various categories and their weekly teaching loads. Tables 7 and 8 give the results. The research showed an obvious decrease in the rate of readers (associate professors) and an increase in the rate of full professors. The year of 1994 must be considered separately with respect to the schools included in the research.

The research of weekly teaching loads showed their increase for lecturers (assistant professors) and readers (associate professors) on the one hand, and a decrease for full professors.

Table 7. Categories of Teachers

Table 8. Teaching Duties

Correlation Analysis of the Data Obtained in the Research

This research was concluded by a correlation analysis of the data obtained for the selected factors. We must acknowledge, however, that the set of 36 universities included in the research was widely varied. The enrolment numbers, for example, were diverse at different schools. Only three of the schools enrolled 2,000 students, while nine universities admitted between 1,000 and 2,000 students.

Universities in the Czech Republic, Federal Republic of Germany and Lithuania have high numbers of researchers which make up 30 - 70 percent of the university staff. Universities in the other countries have much lower number of researchers. We must also note that some schools included in the research did not respond to all the questions.

The correlation of the number of teachers to the number of students is given in the graph. After statistical evaluation of the data obtained, linear regression was used to gain a correlation in the following form :

This correlation means that an increase in student numbers by 100 corresponds to an increase in teachersĺ by 8. At eighteen universities included in the research, the number of teachers corresponding to 100 students was less than 10. Eleven of the studied universities employ between 10 to 20 teachers to 100 students, while at three schools, the number of teachers corresponding to 100 students is between 20 and 30.

It was found that the average number of teachers corresponding to 100 students was 11.9 in 1982, 10.6 in 1987, and 9.5 in 1992. These data show a decreasing tendency in the absolute number of teachers.

Further, our research focused on an average teaching load. According to the results, eight universities had an average teaching load of 6 - 10 contact hours per week, at six schools ranged between 10 - 14 contact hours per week, and at three universities it was 14 - 18 contact hours per week.

Then, we studied the relation of weekly teaching loads to the status of teachers. and also to the country where the particular university is situated. Teaching duties of full professors fell into two groups. The first group comprised countries with teaching loads about 6 contact hrs/week, including Canada, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and the USA. The second group, with the teaching load of approximately 10 contact hrs/week, included the following countries : Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Poland, and Romania.

Lecturers (assistant professors) had the lowest loads of about 6 contact hrs/week in Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the USA, while schools in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, and Romania have 12 contact hours per week. In the Czech and Slovak Republics, the teaching loads of lecturers (assistant professors) reach up to 20 contact hours per week.

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