A Sino-Finnish initiative for experimental teaching practices using the Design Factory pedagogical platform

The paper presents a Sino-Finnish teaching initiative, including the design and experiences of a series of pedagogical workshops implemented at the Aalto-Tongji Design Factory (DF), Shanghai, China, and the experimentation plans collected from the 54 attending professors and teachers. The workshops aimed to encourage trying out interdisciplinary hands-on teaching, and enable teachers to implement their ideas for teaching development utilising the DF pedagogical platform. The majority of the participants planned teaching experimentations aiming at enhancing student understanding of curricula through various group exercises utilising concrete artefacts, but found their implementation within established practices quite challenging, highlighting the challenges of transforming strategic collaboration into grass-root activity. However, the workshops ignited widespread interest in a continuum of collaboration in teaching development, and the DF has since acted as a hub for the implementation of subsequent internationalisation efforts of the two universities, including establishing a dual-degree programme.Peer reviewe

Unite! European University: Main difficulties regarding Flexible Study Pathways identified by Partners with Impact on Joint Programmes – Results of a survey across Europe

The European Universities Initiative (EUI) promotes European values and identity and aims to revolutionise the quality and competitiveness of European Higher Education. As part of this effort, the University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering (Unite!) is working on developing a Joint Program (JP) offer with embedded mobility and flexibility. To achieve this goal, we present in this paper the major challenges in implementing Flexible Study Pathways (FSP) at a transnational level identified in a survey conducted at the seven partner Universities of Unite!. The most desirable forms of flexibility regarding content of course/program were Elective Courses outside the domain and inside the degree of specialisation. Main difficulties identified by partners are related to academic calendars, time cost to organise FSP, legal matters, program agendas and ensuring the achievement of learning outcomes. The results of this analysis show possible directions for the development of a European degree, which will require effective communication and stakeholder coordination and engagement.Peer reviewe