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Description
It is common knowledge that motivation is key in any type of activity. At university level, the individuals who participate in the educational system are motivated from within, i.e. they are driven by motivation, which is no doubt the most efficient type of motivation Thus we consider that the more diverse and challenging the learning opportunities, the more satisfied the learners will be.
Thus mobility projects such as this one are designed as an extension of the inter-institutional cooperation in higher education between the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (TUCN) and European institutions. This project envisaging cooperation between our university and two Norwegian universities (University of Stavanger and Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim) is foreseen as an opportunity to improve cooperation with Scandinavian countries, less covered by usual (Erasmus) exchanges. As part of our internationalization strategy, the project will enhance mobility exchanges (in both directions) for students and all types of staff, with Norwegian Universities, in areas covering fields such as Food Processing, Environmental Sciences and ICTs, yet not exclusive to these, since we plan on extending cooperation beyond this project. This project will contribute to the enhancement of the quality of our studies in certain fields, and will generate increased learner satisfaction, while at the same time offering participants, students and staff taking part in mobilities especially at the University of Stavanger in the field of ICTs, the opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge in an ever-expanding domain, namely that of ICTs, and become more knowledgeable in terms of recording and collecting data, as well as the disseminating it through the creation of databases and other similar tools. The main objective of the project is to increase the number of mobile students in certain fields, as well as exchanges of staff members.
Summary of project results
This project was designed as a mobility project between our university (Technical University of Cluj-Napoca - TUCN) and two partner universities in Norway (University of Stavanger (UiS), in the field of ICTs, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU), in the field of Food Processing) with the aim of increasing learner satisfaction. When drafting the project we had in mind the fact that there was a need for an exchange of knowledge and know-how in the above-mentioned fields, as well as a better mutual understanding in terms of culture, education, approaches of the teaching-learning process. The project set out to address challenges in the above-mentioned field, with focus on the teaching-learning process, with the aim of providing participants from both sides an opportunity to learn from each other. This being a mobility project, the planned activities were outgoing and incoming student mobilities for study and placement, and staff mobilities for teaching and training. We did succeed in sending students to the partner universities, and they greatly benefited from the expertise of the teaching staff from both partners. They improved both on a personal level, because the mobility offered them opportunity to grow as individuals, and on the professional level, since they were immersed in an different educational environment than the one they were familiar with, and were faced with the challenges of adapting to the requirements of a different educational approach. There were 3 end beneficiaries: 1 student in ICTs at UiS and 2 in Food Processing at NTNU. They brought home their newly acquired knowledge in their respective fields and shared it with their peers and teachers in both formal and informal environments. Their experience has increased their peers'' interest in mobility, and we consider that under normal circumstances, the number of student mobilities will increase because every positive experience in a partner university generates a positive response in the home university in the form of increased interest in mobility.
Summary of bilateral results
Having a Norwegian project partner meant that participants could have access to the Norwegian educational system and thus improve their knowledge and skills in their specific field of study (ICTs and Food Processing respectively), as well as in the general culture of the donor country. This project meant that both the Norwegian partners and ourselves as beneficiaries had the opportunity to learn from each other, improve our knowledge in terms of the respective educational systems, better understand each other''s cultures and approaches to education and research. As a positive outcome of this project, the bilateral collaboration will continue in the future. More specifically, a new mobility project proposal was submitted by us at the 2020 call and it was approved. Thus, at present, we have another mobility project under implementation. Moreover, the bilateral collaboration with UiS has moved to another level in that at present negotiations are being carried out as to initiating a cooperation at doctoral level, more specifically with regard to the shared supervision of doctoral theses.