Curricula Reforms Through Structural Reforms

This paper analyses the curricula reforms initiated due to state policies and University structural reforms in the example of Estonia and Tallinn University of Technology. Although, the broader picture of both state and University policies is provided in the paper, the emphasis is put to the reforms straightly related to the Department of Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics in Tallinn University of Technology.

I. Introduction

Governmental decisions on the higher education policies, as well as the will of the Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) to adapt to the rapidly evolving market in technical fields, have led to many reforms in the past and no doubt in the future. Similar activities can be seen in the decisions of the Ministry of Education and Research in Estonia, which have also lead to both structural and curricula reforms in Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech, previously TTÜ). Major reorganizations - the structural and statutory reform, the reform of study programs, the reform of the financing model, introduction of the new academic career model - were carried out at TalTech in the period from 2016 to 2017 [1].