Scopus İndeksli Yayınlar Koleksiyonu
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12573/395
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Conference Object Citation - Scopus: 2International Student Projects in a Blended Setting: How to Facilitate Problem Based Project Work(University of Minho, 2018) Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Elsner, Raphael; Kuran, Mehmet Şükrü; Prikulis, Lauris; Zabłudowski, Łukasz; Zabludowski, LukaszThis paper describes our experiences with facilitating international student projects during three years of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership COLIBRI (Collaboration and Innovation for Better, Personalized and IT-Supported Teaching). Each year 7-8 student projects were carried out in groups of 3-5 students from different European universities, with different backgrounds from business and engineering. Each year new students were selected for participation. The student projects carried out were based on real-life problems from companies, and each group was assigned both an academic supervisor from one of the seven participating universities and an academic supervisor from one of the three participating companies. The projects were based on a combination of physical mobility and virtual mobility: The students would meet for one week at the beginning of the project work, then work together virtually for around 2-3 months, and then meet again for a week where the projects were finalised and evaluated. This setup is challenging: The students do not know each other beforehand, most of the students are not familiar with problem based projects and collaboration with industry, the students represent both different educational traditions and disciplines, and the virtual collaboration is by itself challenging. The project was carried out in three cycles, where for each cycle we systematically evaluated the previous experience and adapted our approach to e.g. project descriptions, seminar organisations, elements to support the students in the project work, and project supervision. Based on our evaluations, we see that each year student satisfaction was increased, and at the same time both companies and students reported improved learning outcome and project results. The last year a survey was made for the students to evaluate the support from different elements such as online modules, introduction to project work, instructions of expected outcome, templates, and supervision during both physical and virtual collaboration phases. We conclude that such international and interdisciplinary projects can be very rewarding, but also that careful planning and implementation is needed to achieve the full potential. © 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Conference Object Citation - Scopus: 2Colibri: An International Blended Learning Experience Based on Real-World Problems(University of Minho, 2016) Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Kuran, Mehmet Şükrü; Frick, Jan; Mank, LeaColibri is a European project funded by Erasmus+, where seven universities, a governmental organisation and two enterprises work together and explore new and innovative approaches to teaching. As part of the project we offer a joint course during the spring semester which was followed by 30 students in 2015. It contains both course and project activities. In this paper we describe our experiences from the project work, from the initial formulation of the project problems by the companies, over the organisation of the seminars and virtual collaboration phase to the final exams. The whole course was organised as follows: First there was a virtual kick-off meeting for all students and teachers. This was followed by a phase where students studied different modules online. Each student chooses an individual combination of modules that fits his/her background while also supporting the later project work. After the online modules, the students and teachers all meet physically for a week in Istanbul to finalize the modules and begin working on the real life projects provided by the enterprises. Then there was a period of virtual collaboration in the groups followed by the final seminar in Riga where everyone (students, teachers, and company representatives) met to finalize the projects, prepare for presentations/exams, and conduct examinations. Overall, the project was successful and received positive evaluations from the students, particularly regarding the international and interdisciplinary dimensions. On the other hand, we also learned how important it is to facilitate the collaboration, group work, and project planning during the first physical seminar. We found that it is both challenging and important to be very explicit about what exactly is expected from the students, as both students and supervisors have differing understandings of what a project is. Discussing the learning objectives with the students to obtain a common understanding can be a useful tool. © 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.