The International Cooperation Framework for Next Generation Engineering Students (NextGEng) is a three-year Cooperation Partnership project, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ KA2 programme, which started at the beginning of October 2022 and will end in September 2025. The aim of NextGEng is to develop an international cooperation framework between consortium partners that promote international team-teaching with the support of new learning material and teaching methods that are aligned with the European Education Area 2025 and are in accordance with labor market needs.
The 1st and successful Tailored Training Seminar of WP2 was organized at Jamk University of Applied Sciences (JAMK) in Jyväskylä, Finland from Monday to Tuesday, January 30-31, 2023. The training activity was developed in hybrid mode, at the event 29 (3 online) teachers from all three partner HEIs (Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Jamk University of Applied Sciences and University of Jaen) took part at the activities organized in the event. The main responsible persons of the seminar activities from the host HEI side were Petri Luosma (Leader of WP2), Tarja Moilanen (E-Learning Designer) and Anneli Kakko (Jamk Project Manager and Leader of WP6).
The seminar program consisted of presentation sessions, workshops, visits to JAMK DigiCentre, and also a traditional Finnish sauna evening with dinner at Ränssi Inn in Kuikka. The training activities focused on developing new skills related to student-centered teaching methods that facilitate team-teaching.
During the first day there were interesting presentations about student-centeredness, different teaching methods, international co-teaching and digital tools by Eila Burns (Senior Researcher at the Teacher Education College) and Tarja Moilanen. The first day continued by workshop in three groups, each with at least one representative from each subject area, and group visits to the DigiCentre.
During the second day, co-teaching teams work sessions for each of the six courses were organized. The activity focused on applying the learning methods to each course in the Team-Teaching Pilot Program and planning the team-teaching activity. Also, a dedicated session with company partners was organized where representatives of the company partners discussed with the participating teachers about the laboratory activities that are planned to be developed in collaboration in the NextGEng project.
The training seminar promoted and expanded participants’ thinking of learning and student-centred pedagogies. Moreover, contemplated participants mindsets towards learning and co-teaching. During these two days, all teacher of six co-teaching courses had the possibility to discuss and share their thoughts and plan the next steps. This seminar helps partners to continue valuable work in this project.