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Description
The ClassroomLab aims at integrating education at West University of Timisoara and Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU through the design of pioneering interdisciplinary modules that will be incorporated into new graduate programs and relevant existing training schemes proposed by institutions with varying orientations, in order to address the rapidly altering need to cope with challenges related to work integration and marginalization of vulnerable persons (Roma, persons with disabilities and migrants).
Digital and innovative process-models of experiential teaching and learning based on the use of advanced technologies (like VR/AR) are implemented to allow Romanian and Norwegian students to meet and cooperate in real-time, to deal with major real-life cases from both countries, in dialogue with an interdisciplinary and bilateral team of teachers.
Target groups: 1st cycle students from WUT and NTNU; Professors, researchers and administrative staff from WUT and NTNU; Economic agents, employers and work integration services providers for vulnerable groups.
The Classroom Laboratory course, already available in the NTNU educational offer will be jointly implemented by WUT and NTNU. Academic staff from WUT will be trained by the NTNU on the specific pedagogical and learning methods; the ClassroomLab Reader, Joint Course and Impact Tool will be developed jointly. Both HEIs will work closely together with the world of work representatives.
More at: https://classroomlab.uvt.ro/
Summary of project results
The ClassroomLab-concept seeks to establish an innovative education model which refers to a) a classroom where selected courses are taught, b) a technology-dense infrastructure for conducting experiments in teaching methods, and c) an arena for collaboration between participants with various backgrounds and orientations. As such, The ClassroomLab aims to meet three priorities for the teaching of tomorrow: Internationalization; alternative forms of teaching and learning based on the use of modern technology; and collaboration with parties outside academia.
In a globalized world, where the demand for relevance in higher education is growing, these are important goals in themselves. Both students and teachers learn more about and gain new and personal experience with by participating in the Classroom Laboratory joint course and collaborative project.
The NTNU and WUT cooperation project developed the basis of a complementary discipline that forms transversal competencies for the students, the Classroom Laboratory joint course. It was prepared during the first year of the project: teaching and academic staff from WUT was trained by the NTNU on the specific pedagogical methods (C1) and teaching and academic staff from NTNU learned about the package of complementary disciplines forming transversal competencies at WUT (C2); were elaborated teaching materials (O1), elaborated formal documents and procedures to integrate the ClassroomLab joint course into the educational offer of the NTNU and WUT (O2).
After the developmental phase, the Classroom Laboratory joint course was implemented and piloted starting with the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year in both universities (C3). In order to ensure its sustainability: a) it was implemented in a truly integrated way; b) its impact was measured in a longitudinal manner during the course period; and c) the impact assessment results were studied and disseminated in the last part of the project (O3, O4, M1, M2).
Regarding the project targets, we mention the following indicators:
Number of joint articles submitted to peer review publications: planned 1 - realized 3
Number of joint intellectual outputs created in the project: 4
Number of joint events organized: 3
Number of participants at joint events: planned 84 - realized 85.
Summary of bilateral results
The Classroom Laboratory joint course, elaborated within the project will continue after the funding period, because: (1) it was integrated with all the formal approvals in the educational offer of partner HEIs; (2) the collaborative workspace created between students, teaching and administrative staff of partner HEIs and the world of work ensures the sustainability of the result; (3) after the funding period, the second edition of the joint course is already stated, at 01 of October 2021.A future collaborative project named - VR-Classrooms - aims to extend the collaborative project of the 18-COP-0016 Classroom Laboratory project on developing practical solutions for technical and learning in virtual classrooms, responding to the growing interest in the field on digitalization of education.