Keynote Speakers

David Bearfield, Director, European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO)
Meeting the Challenges of Competency-Based Assessment and Development for the European Union Institutions

Abstract: EPSO is responsible for selecting staff to work for the Institutions and Agencies of the European Union including the European Parliament, the Council, the European Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Ombudsman. Each Institution is then able to recruit staff from among the pool of candidates selected by EPSO.

David's presentation will tell the story behind the biggest overhaul of selection procedures for EU civil servants in over 50 years. It is taking place in the context of an enlarged European Union of 27 Member States and 23 official languages. He will explain the reasons for change, how he secured a mandate for major change from a highly diverse and complex stakeholder group, how the process is being implemented and how the change was managed – internally and externally – against a backdrop of challenge and change across the public sector more generally. He will present the EPSO Development Programme and the progress that has been made in transforming the Office.

The audience will gain an invaluable insight into EPSO's journey on the road of major transformation from a selection system that was stuck in the past and which had been described by observers as something of a 'sacred cow'. This presentation will include the many political, legal and practical challenges that have inevitably been thrown up along the way. David will also explain how he encouraged his staff to become actively engaged and involved in designing and implementing the process of change. The audience will be taken through the three pillars for change laid out in the EPSO Development Programme (inspired by global best practice) namely a new HR Planning Strategy; new Testing and Professionalism methods, notably the shift from knowledge to competency-based testing; and tackling the issue of Attractiveness and Diversity which has resulted in a rebranding of the EU as a prospective employer. With the prospect of over one-third of staff retiring over the next ten years, the EPSO Development Programme aims to equip the EU Institutions with a modern and effective recruitment structure that will enable them to compete successfully in the war for talent and present a unique offering to Europe's brightest and best.

Bio: David graduated in 1989 from the University of Salford, England, with a 1st Class BA Hons degree in Modern Languages. He speaks fluent English, French, German and Swedish. From there, he went on to enter the UK civil service European Fast Stream, firstly in the Transport Ministry before joining the Diplomatic Service. After succeeding in a graduate entry open competition to work for the European Commission, David began his EU career in the selection and recruitment department. Over the course of the past 16 years, he has held a variety of posts in the fields of HR, Communication and Change Management, including working in the Private Office of its Vice-Presidents Neil Kinnock and Siim Kallas, and being Head of Internal Communication. In total, David has 20 years of experience in the public sector. Since 2007, David has been Director of the European Personnel Selection Office and has, amongst other achievements, successfully secured a mandate for a far-reaching overhaul of selection procedures for civil servant entry to the EU Institutions to bring them in line with global best practice.

Sara de Freitas, Director of Research, Serious Games Institute at the University of Coventry
Serious Gaming: A New Vision for e-Assessment through Immersion in the Digital Age

Sara de Freitas and the Serious Games Institute (SGI)

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Abstract: Serious games utilise games technologies for supporting education and training that offers more immersive and engaging learning experiences. This keynote sets out a vision for future learning where games elements and different forms of assessment are built into the learning through increased immersion and feedback between the learner and the computer interface. In the future all learning will be designed to support these more immersive experiences, but what does this really mean for future learning and e-assessment? The new vision for learning has implications not only for how learning is assessed, but also for how it will be designed and delivered. This paradigm shift in learning is providing real challenge and opportunity for assessment as a whole and changing the landscape of education to one where learners are more actively engaged at every stage of the learning process.

Bio: Sara is Director of Research at the Serious Games Institute at the University of Coventry where she leads an applied research team working closely with industry. Recently appointed Professor of Virtual Environments she holds a visiting senior research fellowship at the London Knowledge Lab, London, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2003 Sara founded (and continues to Chair) the UK Lab Group, which brings the research and development community together to create stronger links between industrial and academic research through supporting collaborative programmes and for showcasing innovative R&D solutions for the knowledge economy.

Voted the Most Influential Woman in Technology 2009 by US Fast Company, Sara chaired the IEEE Serious Games and Virtual Worlds conference in 2009, and is a regular speaker at international conferences. Sara currently holds funding from the Advantage West Midlands, Erasmus Scheme, European Regional Development Fund, European Union and the Technology Strategy Board. Her current lines of research are Examining Multimodal Interfaces, Experience Design and Perceptual Modelling in Games and Virtual Worlds. Sara publishes widely in the areas of: Pedagogy and e-Learning; Change Management and Strategy Development for Implementing e-Learning Systems and Serious Games and Virtual Worlds for Supporting Training and Learning.

Olaf Köller, Leibniz Institute for Science and Math Education, Kiel, Germany
Meeting the Challenges of Change in Assessment Systems - How can we link educational standards, educational assessment, and instruction?

Abstract: Many western countries suffer from large proportions of poor achieving students, even at the end of secondary school. These students often fail in the school-to-work transition and form a risk group for a modern society. Therefore, educational (performance) standards have been developed in several countries to point out common goals for several subjects. These standards contain domain-specific competencies (skills) that students should reach in primary and secondary school. In the case of minimum standards it is expected that more or less 100 percent of an age cohort meet the standards. Such a system of educational standards, however, has two implications, one for educational assessment and one for improving quantity and quality of instruction. The presentation will thus provide some ideas on how to combine standards, assessment, and instruction. It will strongly be argued, that improving teaching by means of professional development of teachers is the key strategy to reduce the proportion of failing students. Sample-based national assessments as well as state-wide-assessments, covering the whole population of students, on the other side, are necessary measures to monitor whether school reforms and professional development really improve learning in school. Side effects of such an assessment system, e.g., gain score inflation, will be addressed.

Bio: Olaf Köller is currently Director of the Department of Education at the Leibniz Institute for Science Education (IPN) and full professor of educational research at the university of Kiel. Till September 2009, he was the founding Director of the German Institute for Educational Progress (IQB). He started his scientific career at the Leibniz Institute for Science Education (IPN) at the University of Kiel, Germany after graduating with a degree in Psychology in 1991. In 1996 he changed to the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, where he finished his dissertation (Ph. D.) in 1997. In 2002 he accepted the offer of a full professorship at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 2004 he changed to Humboldt University, Berlin. As the founding director of IQB, Olaf Köller was responsible for the national assessment program in Germany, which means that IQB conducts large-scale studies to test whether students in Germany reach national educational standards. Aside from his activities in academic assessment, his major research interests are Reciprocal Effects of Academic Self-Concepts and Achievement, the Development of Academic Interests and their Effects on Achievement, Educational and Occupational Choices. Olaf Köller has published about 150 national and international journal articles, book chapters and monographs.