Implementing the concept of learning outcomes in higher education has gained particular importance during the past few years and is closely linked to the Bologna process. Since 2003, the learning outcomes orientation has appeared in every new Ministerial Communiqué (Adam 2008). The London Communiqué (2007) even acknowledges learning outcomes as a basic building block of European higher education reform. The learning outcomes concept has gained further importance through the development of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Inspired by these developments, studies and research projects seek to grasp the concept(s) of learning outcomes, its underpinning assumptions and the consequences of its implementation (Cedefop 2008). Many studies conclude that the learning outcomes concept and related concepts (for example, competence or qualification) are understood and used in very different ways across Europe. Due to the educational mandate to offer practice-oriented courses at the higher-education level, Austrian universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen, FH) have, from their very beginning, addressed the issue of learning outcomes. Each FH degree programme has to describe the connections between the vocational fields of activity, the related qualification profile and the curriculum. These connections also must be demonstrated in the teaching concept. Although the concept of learning outcomes lies behind these regulations, the accreditation guidelines for FH programmes do not explicitly use the term ‘learning outcomes’ and the FH sector does not share a common understanding of this concept. This paper (based on a project commissioned by the Austrian FH Council) seeks to explore the existing ways of understanding ‘learning outcomes’ and related concepts in the FH sector and to contrast these understandings with definitions used on a European level. Furthermore, the paper seeks to highlight how possible improvements in the accreditation guidelines could advance both understanding of the ‘learning outcomes’ concept in the Austrian context as well as taking into account the concepts promoted by the EHEA and the EQF. The research questions include: - How are learning outcomes and related concepts presently perceived, understood and applied in the Austrian FH sector? - What differences can be identified between the understandings in the Austrian FH sector and the concepts used in ‘official’ European documents? - How can the learning outcomes orientation be applied in the Austrian FH sector (in particular for improving the development of study programmes) in a way that fits the Austrian context and, at the same time, follows the developments on a European level?

The current understanding of learning outcomes and related concepts in the Austrian FH sector will be explored by analysing documents (for example, accreditation guidelines), relevant research projects and, in particular, interviews with Austrian FH stakeholders. To identify the concepts used in ‘official’ European documents – or by the academic community – and to contrast them with the understanding in the Austrian FH sector, EU documents and research studies will be analysed (literature research). Furthermore, analysis will be done on two pilot projects that tested a new Austrian FH concept that strongly focused on learning outcomes when developing curricula, qualification profiles, didactic concepts and assessment methods.

The paper intends to address current challenges for the Austrian FH sector in relation to learning outcomes. Furthermore, by considering both the Austrian context as well as developments on a European level, some ideas will be developed for strengthening the learning outcomes concept in the Austrian FH sector.