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Description
The project, led by the University of Silesia in Katowice, is implemented in a cross-sectoral (NGO - EDU-RES) and international partnership (Icelandic Institute of Natural History). The project assumes the diagnosis, elaboration, development and partial implementation of the elements of education reform in major studies conducted at the university and the development of the area of individual education, implemented over disciplines (CIIS).
Goal: development of a quality culture in higher education by diagnosing, planning, elaboration, developing good practices and implementing by 31.12.2023. the concept of university education based on universal design, inclusive and personalized education, as well as developing competences and key skills from the point of view of socio-economic needs.
The reform assumes a departure from programme education in favour of multi-faceted, participatory and inclusive education. Thanks to the planned changes, the graduates of the university will acquire not only specialized competences, but also the opportunity to choose educational paths that build awareness, e.g. ecological, intercultural, strengthen their technological, digital and legal knowledge, or shape communication skills. The development of the CIIS offer assumes strengthening the practical use of knowledge and tools in the activities of students, developing teamwork methods and adjusting them to the opportunities created by international mobility.
Results and impacts, including long-term:
- The implemented education reform
- Increasing the innovativeness of the staff and student competences and the economy due to better preparation of graduates for the changing social and economic reality
- Increasing the quality of education in higher education
- Increasing institutional cooperation at the international level, internationalization of studies.
Profile of participants: students, teachers, secondary school students, entrepreneurs, 379 people in total.
Summary of project results
The report on the assessment of the quality of education of the University of Silesia 2019/2020 and the REPORT FOR THE EC, Improving the quality of teaching and learning in higher education in Europe, clearly showed that "in a dynamic world, graduates need a universal education that will enable them to be active, thoughtful citizens of the world, contributing to the ethical development of societies" (). Higher education must, therefore, meet the criteria of innovation and flexible adaptation to changes following the presented recommendations of experts. Students emphasized the need for changes in the approach to education; they expected not only specialist knowledge but also, for example, preparation for work in a changing world or team and personalized education.
Thanks to the development of all planned results within the project, it was possible to implement educational reforms. The KISM offer was expanded to include classes on environmental problems and their relationship to social, academic and cultural issues. We are already noticing an increase in the innovativeness of staff and the competencies of students, an increase in institutional cooperation at the international level and the internationalization of studies. Direct contact with foreign experts allowed students to go beyond the local perspective on the issues of global changes and compare perspectives
Students benefit from a didactic offer that stimulates inter-area searches, research independence and a critical approach to sources and shaping their careers. Two results were developed in agreement with internal and external stakeholders, including a multi-faceted and in-depth diagnosis of the idea, needs and possibilities of university education in a changing world. Thanks to the developed recommendations, specific educational paths were indicated, described as modules building a new didactic offer at the University of Silesia, of which at least two were piloted across the university. We expect that the implementation of the project will contribute in the long term to an increase in the quality of education within higher education and an increase in the innovativeness of the economy due to better preparation of graduates for the changing socio-economic reality.
Summary of bilateral results
Bilateral results included - participants gaining new knowledge in the field of environmental threats and their effects on a local and global scale; - raising its level about the causes of these changes; - change in the attitudes of project participants, resulting from learning and independently developing data on ongoing climate changes on a local scale. This allowed students to acquire new skills and made them aware that in both partner countries, the effects of the changes are similar, but they are expressed differently on the scale of the continent and the island and have effects of varying intensity. Barriers to understanding the mechanisms of the functioning of Iceland''s natural environment have been overcome, and interest in the topic of activities to preserve biodiversity in the specific conditions of the island about the continental area has increased. The partnership also led to an exchange of experience in interpreting the results obtained and their sources, as well as the priorities set by both partners in conducting education in the field of nature conservation. Participants'' motivation to create models and their ability to make them also increased in terms of changes that may occur in the environment over several decades due to their effects on residents. The participation of institutions from Donor States in the project increased the international prestige of the project. Cultural diversity in the project positively impacted creativity and a better understanding of challenges. Cooperation with IINH allowed us to learn from each other and adapt best practices. Our project has been enriched with unique knowledge, experience, and new relationships that will enable us to develop cooperation. Bilateral cooperation is planned in terms of participation of ISM students in seminars organized by the partner and individual scientific and popularization cooperation by the KISM teaching team and student mobility, e.g. within Erasmus+.