A Multiple Criteria Decision Making Approach to Designing Teaching Plans in Higher Education

Abstract

The involvement of competences in the teaching–learning planning process in Higher Education is essential for their success in the European Higher Education Area. This study presents a participatory multi-criteria model based on Voting Analytic Hierarchy Process (VAHP) analysis, focusing on the attainment of competences that permits consensus between lecturers and students in the design of teaching plans using two assessments: the assessment of competences by students and the lecturers’ assessment of the contribution of teaching strategies to the attainment of each competence. To validate the methodology, a survey was carried out to determine the preferences of 211 students on the competences of a quantitative subject in several business degrees and a survey of 11 lecturers to assess the contribution of the teaching strategies in the acquisition of each competence. The results show that practical lessons and group work should receive more importance in the teaching plans of the subject Financial Management according to the defined competences, the students’ preferences and the criterion of each lecturer for each teaching strategy. The results show the applicability of the participatory methodology proposed to formally agree on the design of teaching plans in higher education organizations between lecturers and students.