Tracking students and graduates is extremely important for universities who wish to provide a high quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. Procedures for assessing progress and success of students during their study, towards employment or further qualification, help to understand the impact of study programmes, their relevance for the labour market, and thus generate the necessary information for systematic improvement of courses and support services.
In order to find out more about the drivers, mechanisms and impact of tracking, EUA, in a consortium with the Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH (HIS), Lund University, the University of the Peloponnese, the Danish School of Education/Aarhus University and the Irish Universities Association, launched a project under the Lifelong Learning Programme - Transversal Programme, Key Activity 1, Studies and Comparative Research. The project will last 24 months, from October 2010 to September 2012.
Project Objectives
The TRACKIT! project will undertake a study on the drivers, mechanisms and impact of tracking procedures applied by universities, national agencies and researchers, and assess their relevance for and impact on universities and their members. In the context of the project, “tracking” has been defined as all systematic approaches that can be used to monitor progression paths of HE students and their transition into the labour market or another HE programme.
Expected results
The study is expected to give further indications on how to enhance the institutional capacity for providing high quality student-centred learning and training to a larger and diversified studentship, and to improve the understanding of the articulation between degrees and employability. By doing so, it would be expected to underpin ongoing educational reforms and to deliver an important contribution to the realisation of a Europe of knowledge.
Methodology, project phases
The first phase of the project, from October 2010 to September 2011, consists of the development of a background research report on tracking approaches in use at universities and at national level in different parts of Europe.
The second phase of the project, from September 2011 to March 2012 consists of qualitative research, based on site visits. In total, 10 countries will be covered by 20 site visits.
The third phase will bring the outcomes of the previous phases together in a final report.  The report will contain an analysis of tracking measures and as well as a first impact assessment with regards to institutional enhancement. It will be presented to a larger audience at a dissemination event in September 2012 and will be widely distributed.