11 - Portugal - Curriculum
Under the umbrella of their own scientific and pedagogic autonomy, every year public higher education
institutions create study cycles that lead to different degrees (first degrees and mestrados at ensino
universitário and ensino politécnico and doutoramento solely at university) and other courses that don't
give a degree qualification, normally with the purpose of meeting the needs of regional and national
training needs.
As a result of the addition of new courses to existing courses, all of the training offered is renewed via
the expansion of certain specific knowledge areas where graduate and pós-graduação largely
disseminated as initial training, via the Higher Education Guide (Guia do Ensino Superior), published
annually by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education.
The training offered by public higher education, whatever the degree of autonomy, obeys the norms
established regarding degrees and diplomas (Decree-Law No. 74/06, 26th of March), and in terms of
objectives, competencies, length and curriculum credits (ECTS).
In this context and in terms of duration and course credits, it is important to highlight that the study
cycle leading to a first degree in ensino politécnico normally lasts 6 semesters, corresponding to 180
credits, while at university it lasts between 6 to 8 semesters, corresponding to 180 to 240 credit units.
Similarly, the cycle that leads to a mestrado degree normally lasts three to four semesters, which
corresponds to 90 to 120 credits.
In ensino universitário a mestrado degree can also be awarded after an integrated study cycle of 300
to 360 credits and a normal duration of between 10 and 12 semesters, in the cases where the duration
for access to a certain profession is stipulated by European Union legal norms or is the result of a
stable and consol of practice in the European Union.
In the second study cycle of university or institutos politécnicos , a mestrado degree is awarded to
those who pass all the units that make up the study plan of the mestrado course and the successful
defence of their dissertation, project work or internship report, having obtained the stipulated number of
credits.
A doutoramento is only awarded by universities and it is awarded to those who have passed all the
curriculum units, where relevant and who have successfully defended their thesis.
On the other hand, training in the first study cycles (licenciatura) tends to be structured around a
common core, in terms of curriculum, that later diversifies that can take on the configuration of
branches making the learning opportunities more flexible.
Higher education institutions, when adopting this perspective of curriculum construction, not only
favour the possibility of choice for students articulating compulsory and optional curriculum units but
also they create space for the development of competencies related to the methods of university work,
documentation sources, foreign languages and ICT.
Alongside this effort in terms of renewal, the state higher education institutions also develop
coordination mechanisms (group, departmental and global) that reinforce the coherence of the training
on offer, for example at the level of curriculum unit content that are generally published annually in the
form of summaries, accompanied by a précis of the structure and workings of the course, classes and
other activities in the curriculum.
All of these guidelines seem to lead to the organisation of the curriculum that the implementation of
Decree-Law No. 74/06, 26th of March, aims to promote and that infers a formative paradigm
characterised by progressive autonomy of study and learning management. This is based, to a large
extent, on a new concept of student's work that includes "all of the forms of work foreseen, namely the
contact hours and the hours dedicated to work placements, projects, field work, study and
assessment" (paragraph b) of Decree-Law No. 42/05, 22nd of February).
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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