BEST General Assembly Opening Day - Report from the sessions on STEM education

BEST General Assembly Official Opening Day Education Programme - Wroclaw 2017 Reports from the sessions on Higher STEM Education

BEST Educational Involvement Department June 2017

INTRODUCTION

2

REPORTS FROM THE SESSIONS ON HIGHER STEM EDUCATION

2

1. CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2

2. ROLES OF NGOs IN UNIVERSITIES

4

3. INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODOLOGIES

7

3. 3. 1 First session 3.3.2 Second session

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4. HOW INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS INTERACT WITH THE YOUTH

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5. SKILLS OF FUTURE TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS

17

6. PREPARATION FOR PROFESSIONAL LIFE

19

7. INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS IN EUROPE

21

AUTHORS

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FURTHER READING ON BEST EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT

24

CONTACT

24

1

INTRODUCTION Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) is a non-governmental, non-profit and apolitical student organisation. By reaching a better understanding of European cultures and developing capacities to work in an international environment, BEST strives to help European students of technology to become more internationally minded. Today, BEST is present in 32 countries with a total of 95 active local BEST groups and a total of more than 3.300 vibrant and competent young technology students, who believe in the importance of technology and different ways of thinking.

While putting European universities on the map, connecting students with our partners and closing the gap between students, companies, and universities - BEST is adding value to the environment it is a part of. Moreover, BEST is not standing idle but looking into what we can still do together. ​BEST Educational Involvement (EI) is one of the main activities that BEST offers to technical students all over Europe. It creates a platform to raise awareness of students on educational matters and to provide impartial input of students to the stakeholders of ​European STEM Education​.

REPORTS FROM THE SESSIONS ON HIGHER STEM EDUCATION 1. CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Facilitator: Ksenija Ulićević Minute taker: Dragos Gaftoneanu

1.1 Introduction and background Continuous Professional Development, CPD, is the acquisition of knowledge, experience and skills, as well as the development of personal qualities. It comprises both the acquisition of new skills to broaden competence and the enhancement of existing skills to keep abreast of evolving knowledge.

CPD enables the employability and mobility of individual engineers. It enhances their career in the fast moving world of technology and strengthens their professional satisfaction and well-being.

Certain CPD courses are designed to help you obtain and maintain the five competences of a Chartered Engineer (CEng): C1. Knowledge and Understanding; C2. Application of Knowledge; C3. Leadership: Technical, Commercial and Managerial; C4. Communication & Interpersonal Skills; C5. Professional Conduct.

CPD is fundamental in terms of keeping (engineers) updated and qualified. FEANI, for instance, has 2

dedicated a lot of effort into consolidating the CPD of engineers (​http://www.feani.org/site/index.php?id=287​). Recording and validating qualification activities of engineers is desirable and possible (​http://www.engineersireland.ie/CPD-Training.aspx​). Learning to learn is fundamental for engineering students so they may engage actively after graduation.

1.2 Methodology (10 min) Introduction of CPD. (30 min) -What is CPD? -Do you think it is important to develop your skills throughout the years?

-What kind of skills they want to update throughout the years?

-How can you develop yourself as a professional: ​1.​ Before graduation (undergraduate), ​2. ​After graduation (postgraduate)? Means how to get the skills and competences.

(5 min) Present and absorb the CPD types by FEANI. (20 min) -What are the opportunities for you to become more attractive to companies?

-Which types of CPD are the most efficient? In-company training courses or lectures: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

External training courses On-the-job training Technical visits or assignments Service in professional engineering organisation activities Formal post graduate academic courses Updating professional development based on independent study Paper teaching/instructing in CPD related activities Preparation and publication in a journal or book ...(add the students ideas to this list)...

(20 min) -How would you improve yourself in order to be more attractive to employers?

-How would you improve in your field of expertise?

-Who should pay for CPD? Themselves or companies?

(10 min) -Summary of what we debated and wrap up.

-Final thoughts/comments

1.3 Outcomes Participants seemed willing to discuss about the opportunities for themselves to develop and to be 3

more attractive to companies. However, as students and people, who are still developing themselves and haven’t even got the first job or internship (most of them, at least), they didn’t seem as they could really relate to the topic.

On the other hand, they were willing to debate about what is the Continuous Professional Development for them and it seemed that they got pretty good idea about what companies would require from them, when applying for a job and during their career.

How they would develop themselves: ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢

By learning a language; By actively listening to people (co-workers, boss, other employees); By helping people to communicate; By being a team players; By being open minded; By developing good interpersonal relations; By having a hobby; By being curious; By gaining more knowledge; By negotiating; By being fit in with the crowd.

Very important factor that they all stated to be in their professional life was flexibility.

1.4 References ● ● ●

http://www.engineersireland.ie/CPD-Training.aspx http://www.engineersireland.ie/CPD-Training/CPD-Training/Online-CPD.aspx http://www.feani.org/site/index.php?id=287

2. ROLES OF NGOs IN UNIVERSITIES Facilitator: Pablo Guerra Minute taker: António Ribeiro

2.1 Introduction and background We live in a world that demands collaboration. There is a great need to bring theory, practice, personal and organisational development together to deal with the kinds of ‘'wicked problems'’ NGOs and universities are trying to address, such as climate change, inequality, and coping with volatility and uncertainty.

“Partnerships of this type can explore innovations in different fields, which are driven by real-world concerns. This can provide direct ‘problem solving’ elements to academic subjects, like the arrangement between UNICEF and NYU which recently resulted in the ​Water Canary​. This can not only enhance the learning experience, but potentially lead to ​profitable joint ventures​.”

Therefore, the purpose of this session was to provide ideas for future collaborations between 4

universities and NGOs, which could innovate in some way.

2.2 Methodology The session was divided into 3 parts, which received the names: 1. What does everyone want?

2. How can we cooperate?

3. Design the future and innovate.

In the first part of the session (​What does everyone want?​), the goal was to establish a common ground and understanding on how we understand and define NGOs, what goals they generally try to pursue, and finalise by discussing about what Universities want in general.

In the second part (​How can we cooperate?​), the goal was to find elements or resources that could form part of a cooperation between NGOs and Universities, as well as examples of cooperation between both parties. This way, participants were divided in three groups, and the World Café method was used for finding the answers to the following three questions: ● ● ●

What could NGOs want from Universities?

What could Universities want from NGOs? What examples of cooperation between NGOs and Universities do you know?

In the last part of the session (​Design the future and innovate​), participants were asked to develop a form of cooperation between Universities and NGOs, in which there is innovation involved. They were given a space to understand “innovation” and to interpret in which context it should be applied, as to make easier to generate new innovative ideas for cooperation between Universities and NGOs.

2.3 Outcomes As outcomes from the first part, regarding NGOs, it was raised, that there is a legal distinction between the societies and the organisations like BEST, which is a NGO. It was pointed out the existence of Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) as well, but they can also be governmental. So, every kind of organisation, that is not looking for profit, is not necessarily an NGO. On the other hand, it was highlighted that the NGOs usually gather around one idea/purpose, to create value, while the universities want to educate the people (students), and produce researches.

Separately, the Universities provide formal (regulated) education, while the NGOs can provide non-formal education.

As outcomes for the second part, the following answers were given to the proposed questions: What could NGOs want from Universities? ● ● ● ● 5

Funding; Office; Rooms/Location/Place to organise events; Use university brand for promotion;

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Academic support (teachers); Source of recruitment; Some contact/channel/PR (mailing list, Facebook, …); Materials (pens, projector, …); Recognition (considering us a serious NGO); Authorisation for promotion; Legal support; Translations; Recommendations; Continuous support; Feedback; Access to university archives.

What could Universities want from NGOs? ● ● ● ● ● ●

● ● ● ● ● ●

Non-formal education; Promotion (local + international); Bridge the gap between faculty + students + companies; Social gatherings; Increase attractiveness of universities; Providing services: o Per degree; o Logistic; o Photos/videos; Integration of new students; Alumni network; Broaden horizons of students, creating opportunities to travel; Peer to peer promotion; Knowledge of what students need (LEoEs - Local Events on Education); Career related events/works.

What examples of cooperation between NGOs and Universities do you know? ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 6

Office at the university; Venue for the events; University provides financial support; Creation of an umbrella organisation; Providing students; Cross-promotion (using each other’s communication channels); Cooperation for startups; Academic support; Laboratory; Mentoring/tutoring for classes; Helping international students;

●

Organising events together.

In the third part of the session, two groups (group 1 and group 3) focused their efforts on developing the following concepts of cooperation: Group 1: Called OOPS, it would have the main goal of improving the framework of education, bringing together the students and the professors from different backgrounds, trying to understand strengths/weaknesses of each programme, and improving cooperation between the faculties.

Group 3: Called Sustain-U, its vision is to lead to a sustainable university, with zero emissions. From universities, it would be needed finances, promotion, and lab accesses. As some ideas presented, it could use different elements, like rewards programmes, points systems with benefits in the canteen, smart trash cans or repurposing.

On the other hand, group 2 provided the following list of ideas: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Recommendation letter from the university; Promoting BEST to high school students; International days (universities + NGOs); NGOs fair; Regular meetings between universities and NGOs; Professors promote their field of work; Invite student union representative to trainings; Providing trainings for students.

From discussions about this last list, it was mentioned by group 2, that the idea of having a fair or an event, where the university and the NGOs could get together, was their preferred one. Another attendant found it very useful because of the NGOs are not that much supported in France. “This way we get some new points for the University to need us, and to promote ourselves onto for the University.”

2.4 References ● ● ● ●

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http://creative-technology.net/CTECH/Water_Canary.html https://beyond2015.acu.ac.uk/submissions/view?id=47 http://globalhealth.thelancet.com/2014/11/17/role-universities-and-ngos-new-research-a nd-development-system https://www.google.lv/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&v ed=0ahUKEwi00Oja3LjTAhVDWCwKHYWJBi4QFggyMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ojs.u nito.it%2Findex.php%2Fjunco%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F483%2F393&usg=AFQjCNEOn NeoPar2JNhwHhH9UhAd7gz9vg&sig2=LePy4_aq2zxNxqHDHYdILQ https://www.uia.org/archive/role-ngos-unesco

3. INNOVATIVE TEACHING METHODOLOGIES 3.1 Introduction and background Innovative and modern teaching methodologies are currently one of the most popular topics in 7

higher education. It can encompasses the usage of technology in class, university-business cooperation projects, project- and problem-based learning, self-directed learning and many more.

The session aims to explore what the students’ experiences connected to the topic are and gather their critical opinions.

3.2 Methodology Given time: 1h 15min. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Getting to know and field of study (5 min) What do you understand under teaching methodologies? (5 min) Examples of innovative teaching methodologies (10 min) Division into 3 groups and write pros and cons of teaching methodologies of their own choice (30 min) Presenting the outcomes (10 min) Thumbs up or down if participants would like to have the teaching methodologies used in their classes (10 min) Summary (5 min)

3. 3. 1 First session Facilitator: Dragana Manasova Minute taker: Daria Andreeva

3.3.1.1 Outcomes The session started with a question to see how the students understand the term “teaching methodologies”. The answers are the following: ● ● ●

Teaching methodologies are tools and principles in teaching to share knowledge; Teaching methodologies are used to achieve specific teaching goals; Times change but the educational system stays the same, so there’s a need to find new ways of transmitting knowledge (to find new teaching methodologies).

The students were also asked to give examples of teaching methods they find innovative. However, the students also gave comments on tools and recommendations for an improved teaching/learning process. The following were mentioned: ● ● ●

● ● 8

Tips on how to memorise better the taught material; Adding multiple choice questions in a presentation in order to keep the students’ focus; Combining classical lectures with Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and videos. In videos, there can be more examples, experiments and some jokes. Videos are a good way to present information because the students can pause and take their time to process the information; Gamification (an example was given regarding a professor in Lisbon, who was using this approach through a game in which each student was a character.); Live programming (live coding refers to a process where the professors would create the

code on spot in the classroom and the immediate results can be seen by the students.)

In the next part of the session, the students were divided into 3 groups and had 30 minutes in order to write pros and cons of teaching methodologies of their own choice. The results are given in the three tables below.

Table 1: Pros and cons of the chosen teaching methodologies by the first group Teaching method

Traditional lecture

Pros ● ● ●

● Slides ●

Online lessons

● ● ● ● ●

Remote studies

● ●

Cons

Easier to take notes Closer to students You are forced to go to lessons (Because it is mandatory and increase the sense of responsibility)

●

The information is completed with images and examples Better accessibility

● ● ●

Bad presentation skills Bad structure Too much info/many slides

You can retake them More independence Big range of options Everyone can have access It can be cheaper

● ● ● ●

No feedback You need self-motivation Problem of choosing (which ones to take) (Can be) less valuable

More accessible No need of moving (to a different city or country)

●

Equipment needed

● ●

You lose information while writing It can be boring and overloading You are forced to go to lessons (You need to be physically present in a certain place at a certain time)

Table 2: Pros and cons of the chosen teaching methodologies by the second group Teaching method

Gamification

IT

9

Pros

Cons

● ● ● ● ●

Interactive Competitive spirit Rewards Enjoyable Practical (through the game, theory can be put to practice)

● ●

● ● ●

Natural for students Visualisation Time saving

● ●

●

Difficult for the professor Not enjoyable for everyone Time consuming

Professors’ laziness Professors (in general) are not good with

●

Problem-Based Learning

● ● ● ●

Project-Based Learning ●

(Requires) creativity Challenging Develops both hard and soft skills

● ●

Develops skills Develops skills

● ●

teamwork

●

management ●

technology Distractive Requires more efforts Students can be lost in the middle of the process Time consuming Requires more efforts Students can be lost in the middle of the process Time consuming

Table 3: Pros and cons of the chosen teaching methodologies by the third group Teaching method

Gamification

MOOCs

Project-Based Learning

Pros

Cons

● ● ● ●

Engagement Fun More personal Competitive environment

● ●

● ● ● ● ●

Flexibility High quality lectures Many people to share Cheaper Very accessible

●

● ● ● ● ●

● ●

Close to the industry Teamwork Engagement Interdisciplinary Learning management skills

Difficult to design well Competitive environment Wrong focus/goal It is difficult to be used in classes with many students

●

Difficult to communicate/Less professional Difficult to keep the motivation Less recognised

● ● ● ●

Inefficient Group problems Different levels of effort Difficult to manage time

●

After a presentation of each group, all the students voted with thumbs up or down if they would like to have the teaching methodologies used in their classes. The results are summed in the following table 4.

Table 4: Opinions of students if they would like to see certain teaching methodology Teaching methodology

Traditional lecture

10

Thumbs up or thumbs down Mixed

Slides

Thumbs down

Online lessons

Mixed

Remote studies

Thumbs up

Gamification

Thumbs up

IT

Thumbs up

Problem-Based Learning

Thumbs up

Project-Based Learning

Thumbs up

MOOCs

Mixed

3.3.2 Second session Facilitator: Hanija Bujas Minute taker: Antonia Nanau

3.3.2.1 Outcomes The session started with a question to see how the students understand the term “teaching methodologies”. The answers are the following: ● ●

Teaching methodologies is a way a teacher defines their teaching; It is the way teachers interact with students and what materials they use, technologies, etc.

In the next part of the session, the students were divided into three groups and had 30 minutes in order to write pros and cons of teaching methodologies of their own choice. The results are given in the three tables below.

Table 1: Pros and cons of the chosen teaching methodologies by the first group Teaching method

Pros ●

Project-Based Learning ●

● Lectures

11

●

Cons

You work in a team, so you have the skills of more people together and transfer knowledge You learn by doing and benefit from an instant knowledge application and you can do what interests you

●

They are easy to do and have a large audience You can do a lot in a lecture,

●

●

●

There are people in the team that are not working There is a lower volume of actual learning since you are more applying than learning and it is difficult to supervise for the professor

It is boring, or less interactive You have no motivation to

therefore there is a broader perspective and with higher expertise ● Company Visits

● ●

Labs

● ●

● ●

You meet industry experts, companies You get to know about these companies and discuss with a professional It is interesting and motivating as it offers hands on experience

●

Hands on experience Self-involvement with lots of support where you also take the responsibilities

●

●

●

Tutorials

●

●

You get more into it because the teacher can help you out and it is more flexible

● ●

E-learning

● ● ●

● ●

You can do it again and again Learn from home at your own pace Content could be awesome, community-based and could contain interaction with students from all over the world who do this

●

attend them especially when it is early It is difficult to control No individual attention People get hired, which is opposed to learning and they often leave college There is no curriculum and it is time consuming

It depends a lot on the faculty, but most of the time lab assistants are inexperienced It is expensive, so they are dependent on the university You only solve easy tasks and what you find home is not what you get in the exams The uninterested students will not be involved There is never new content and it takes more time It is not interactive You cannot ask questions directly, and when you do, they are not answered in real time You cannot get in touch with professors

Table 2: Pros and cons of the chosen teaching methodologies by the second group Teaching method

Pros ●

Discussion Group - Debate Voting (​it is a discussion, you vote for the answer, and after that, there is a debate phase where everyone says their ideas and

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● ●

This method develops critical thinking and public speaking You gain a lot of knowledge You are experiencing rather than listening

Cons ● ● ●

It is hard to keep the control and silence It takes more time to reach the subject Some people are left behind because they are too shy

opinions, then a vote again to get a conclusion ​)

Teambuilding & Feedback

●

You are responsible

●

The professor should know the background of every student

●

You try to create a group with your students You make jokes and treat them like they are valuable so they are attracted

● ●

You lose time Students might not respect the teachers

You work in team, do research and develop soft skills You might reach the interest of some companies It is something you will be able to apply in real life, it is useful

●

Some people do not work in the team Students can miss the point of the subject Teacher will not be there to take care Students might copy what was done before

You reach the topic pretty fast Helps you understand the theory in practice

●

●

● Project-Based Learning ● ●

● Labs ●

(Same as the previous group)

● ● ●

Requires money and time

(Same as the previous group)

Lectures ● Tutorials (​5 min videos at the beginning of the course​)

● ● ●

Spoiler → Present → Lecture (​you read at home the information and try to understand, then come to class to present and teacher answers questions​)

●

People get the basis, which makes it easier to understand You can check it later

●

It is interactive Increases public speaking skills You also understand on your own so you remember

● ●

● ●

There is lots of work from the teacher’s side You cannot ask questions Not interactive A lot of time is lost The students might get lost easily and create problems if they are unprepared

After a presentation of each group, all the students voted with thumbs up or down if they would like to see this teaching methods tackled as one of the BSE/scientific paper topics and used in their classes.

Table 4: Opinions of students if they would like to see the certain teaching methodology Teaching methodology

13

Number of votes

Project-​Based​ Learning

21

Tutorials

10

Labs

17

E-learning

9

Lectures

2

Company Visits

17

Discussion Group – Debate - Voting

8

Teambuilding & Feedback

17

Case Studies

22

Spoiler → Present → Lecture

4

4. HOW INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS INTERACT WITH THE YOUTH Facilitator: Ivona Stojanovska Minute taker: Dragana Manasova

4.1 Introduction An international organisation is an organisation with an international membership, scope, or presence that functions in several countries. The role of international organisations are helping to set the international agenda, mediating political bargaining, providing place for political initiatives and acting as catalysts for coalition formation. International organisations also define the salient issues and decide which issues can be grouped together, thus help governmental priority determination or other governmental arrangements.

The biggest are: ● ● ● ● ● ●

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World Wildlife Fund (WWF) World Health Organisation (WHO) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) United Nations (UN) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

2. Methodology The session on how international organisations interact with the youth was divided in two parts: discussion part and teamwork.

The session started with a couple of questions about international organisations in general.

Questions that were used in the discussion were: ● ● ●

Have you had experience with International Organisations?

Have you participated in an event made by an International Organisation?

How would you want to get involved with an International Organisation?

The second part of the session was teamwork. The participants were divided into three groups where they had to brainstorm about the variety of activities in international organisations that can affect the improvement of students.

Before the end, there was a small discussion about the students’ involvement in other international organisations.

3. Outcomes During the session, a discussion was held on the topic of what are international organisations and what other organisations besides BEST have people participated in. The general experience everyone had from international organisations is that they all work differently and have different visions and missions, work on different projects but have similarities at the end of the day. There are some that unlike BEST (which focus on STEM students and education), they focus on social change, meaning the main focus in good raising for people who are not in the best state and also community work.

There are others like debate club where the main focus is the debate itself and it shows the feeling of competition between the participants. This helps in understanding the European Parliament debates where the main topics that are tackled are of a high value for the EU. With the mention of UNICEF and United Nations, a conclusion was made that as mentioned before, they all have similarities with BEST. The outcomes were that there are different activities and one of the things that can be gained is confidence.

Regarding teamwork, all three of the groups had different ideas and outcomes. The goal was to brainstorm on activities from the point of view of organizations about self-development of students.

One of the groups focused on dividing the activities into different categories, stating what you can gain from those activities.

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● Competitions: Gaining knowledge in different fields; Contact with companies; Teamwork. ● Courses: Cultural exchange;

-

Meeting new people; Contact with professors; Academical knowledge. ● Career fair: Fundraising skills; Networking skills; Professional communication skills. ● Debate: Public speaking; New knowledge about different topics; Non-violent communication. ● Internships: Experience in surrounding where diversity is empowered; Contact with companies; Work experience; Cultural exchange. ● Volunteer services: Developing empathy; Helping others; Introducing yourself to other backgrounds. ● What you can gain from all: Soft skills; Hard skills; Non-formal education.

Another group took a different approach, and the main outcomes were: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Travel opportunities; Contact with professionals and companies; Public speaking skills; Teamwork skills; Project management knowledge; Open mindedness; Language skills; Socialising with others; Independence when traveling; Appearance of altruism; Development of a critical mindset; Cultural exchange – another point of view of how the world works; Inspiration; Solving skills; Confidence; Ability to inspire change; International careers – meet company representatives and meet teachers that will bring you future benefits; Survival skills – ability to get around foreign countries and unknown spaces.

The last group divided what you can learn from and what activities can be organised by 16

international organisations ●

What can be learned: ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

●

Presentation skills; Communication skills; Learning languages; Teamwork; Technical skills; Humanitarian actions; Raising awareness; Project management skills; Persuasion; Design skills and creativity; Career development; Orientation and navigation skills; Self-control; Financial management; Time management; Feedback; Leadership.

What activities can be organised: ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Career day; Internship programmes; TrainShops; Social activities; Political statements; Debates; Volunteering activities; Competitions.

5. SKILLS OF FUTURE TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS Facilitator: Maxim Hubin Minute taker: Ana Carolina Amorim

1. Introduction and background Five years from now, over one-third of skills (35%) that are considered important in today’s workforce will have changed.

By 2020, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have brought us advanced robotics and autonomous transport, artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced materials, biotechnology and genomics.

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These developments will transform the way we live, and the way we work. Some jobs will disappear, others will grow and jobs that don’t even exist today will become commonplace. What is certain is that the future workforce will need to align its skillset to keep pace.

“Creativity will become one of the top three skills workers will need. With the avalanche of new products, new technologies and new ways of working, workers are going to have to become more creative in order to benefit from these changes. Robots may help us get to where we want to be faster, but they can’t be as creative as humans (yet).”

2. Methodology This session was divided in a short introduction to the subject, a brainstorm session and discussion in group and presentation of outcomes by each group. We ended the sessions with some finalising questions The introduction included a small presentation of the information as can be read above, followed by some questioning to spark conversation. These questions were based on the ones provided by the Educational Involvement department: ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢

What are the most useful skills you are learning in Uni? Do you think your career path will be replaced by computers or Artificial Intelligence?

Are you learning skills outside University (MOOC, etc.) and why?

What will be one of the most useful skill in next 5 years and are they teaching that in university?

3. Methodology While some hard skills were mentioned as most useful skill learned in engineering studies, most answers were related to soft skills. Being able to be critical and have the ability to filter information when looking for specific answers, coping with a large workload and time restrictions, and self-development are a few of the highlights from the answers.

The participants seemed to believe that a lot of work done by engineers could indeed be replaced by future technology, but the replacement would be less apparent for engineers than for the majority of other jobs (eg. postmen, etc.). Inside the world of engineering it will also depend on the exact field. When asked what is irreplaceable, creativity was answered, but not all agreed on this, as it is already possible to e.g. let software write a piano piece.

Some participants already had some experience with classes that take place online. Most were related to programming and were done outside of their curriculum. However, there were also some tutorials given to a few participants on other topics, including languages, illustrator and photoshop.

During the group sessions, the groups wrote down what they thought would be the skills that would require a bigger focus in 5 years than they do now. Emphasis in 5 year should go to several skills: ➢ Information gathering ➢ Critical thinking ➢ Adaptation to change 18

➢ ➢ ➢ ➢

Team work, leadership, emotional intelligence and other soft skills Digital literacy (engineers should understand the software) Fast processing of information etc.

Based on the many topics discussed during the presentations, some suggestions were given as to how universities should adapt their way of teaching: ➢ Make students more aware of possible uses of the computer in their field ➢ More team work in labs, etc. ➢ Train engineering students to be generalists instead of specialists ○ Technology can make a lot of skills obsolete ➢ Online courses ➢ Make sure that the people who are teaching are trained properly and aware of the changes and digitalization in the field ➢ More collaboration with the students rather than unilateral information transfer

The conclusion of the group that the most important thing is to make it possible for students to follow the fast growing technology and make sure they can work with the current technology.

If the arrival of AI would be a danger to engineering jobs would be a problem in the future, it was concluded that this will depend on quite some factors. The field of engineering, flexibility of the individual and willingness to learn, are examples of such factors.

Some believed that new jobs would appear that would fit the profile of most engineers, while others believed that we would never make AI perfect, even if we could, in order to prevent them from surpassing us. It was also argued that evolving technology could make life easier and free more time for innovation.

4. References https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-indus trial-revolution/

6. PREPARATION FOR PROFESSIONAL LIFE Facilitator: Dominik Ivancan Minute taker: João Palmeiro

1. Introduction and background The need to prepare their students for professional life is becoming increasingly self-evident among many universities across Europe, with different methods and similarly varying results. The purpose of this session was that the participants share the practices of their universities, both good and bad, 19

in regards to this topic and gain insights about possible European-wide initiatives for the future.

2. Methodology The format of discussion groups was used, with the 23 participants being divided into three groups (8+8+7) in which they all had unmoderated discussions for 20 minutes. In the next 50 minutes, they presented their outcomes and discussed them.

3. Outcomes Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Career office support - an office where we can ask for tips for our career, ask opinions, we receive a newsletter.

Incubators for startups. We can go to the incubator and get help to prepare documents, budgets, to structure an idea, etc. and start the startup.

Working in simulation projects.

The first course we have in Environmental Engineering, they put us with 4/5 random people and we have a task to solve during the year. We can call companies and ask things.

Financial support for students organisations, especially for job fairs.

Practice with case studies, in the university, sometimes in a company (during Masters), we can get to know the companies.

Internships, in companies or in the university with a professor.

Project with a group of students (like ​the Demola Project​), we show problems to companies, we try to facilitate the creation of projects between the university, students, and companies.

Classes outside of the University.

Startup support or work at an incubator.

Involve students in research, startups.

Working in research centers.

Some universities have some of this centers or scientific centers.

Entrepreneurship, financial management, “create a company” and similar classes.

Internships as a part of study programmes, supported by the university.

The opportunity to work with the departments of your faculty and participate in projects.

Job fairs so we can “see” our future.

Project-based work Bachelors and Masters.

during

Students as laboratory assistants with pay, if only symbolic.

CV Workshop. How to do a good CV.

Free or cheap training programmes organised by the university, possibly in cooperation with companies.

Doing the thesis.

Some universities give the opportunity to go do it through working at a company and have money for your project, with the results being shared with both the company and university.

Exams with questions that require you to solve problems (instead of with questions to answer with theory, for example), we can get all we want to the exams, open book (or laptop) exams.

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Credits if we work in a company that is in the same field. We can do something concrete, university helps us, professors to supervise projects.

Summer practical work.

Thesis with a professor and a company.

Seminars for local and international students. Helps international settling in a new environment.

Prepare students for working in companies in a specific field and with specific working methods.

Like industry standard software e.g.

Some lectures can be given by some professionals or the class could go to the company.

Company visits too.

Renew the existing equipment and software in the university to catch up with the industry.

Erasmus+ internships/traineeships students.

The possibility to ask for extra classes and the use of labs.

2 weeks of lectures, 2 weeks in a company - some universities in Portugal have this kind of programme. It is like a group project, made by ourselves, and then we go back to the lectures.

for

7. INFLUENCE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS IN EUROPE Facilitators: Hanija Bujas and Prof. Jozef Suchy (FEANI) Minute taker: João Peixoto

Minutes from the session: Welcome to the session! Let’s introduce some people: Hanija, facilitation, Peixoto, minute taking, Professor Suchy, giving us the session.

FEANI One of the things that FEANI does, is Engineering Cards - where information is standardised and put on a card.

Other activity is associated with mobility of engineers.

Questions: I didn’t fully understand the purpose of the engineering card?

Professor: Europe wanted to introduce a virtual database with all engineers. This ID card states that a professional completed the course on that University, his/hers experience (industry/economics).

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This ID card is accepted by national organisation and FEANI. It’s easier for the employee to see that this is a good candidate.

Moving to the topic of the workshop.

Professor (SEFI): I would like to know if we will reach a time where engineers will have facility (an easy way) on working all around Europe? Will they get their degree credited everywhere?

Professor (FEANI): It is a very good idea, but how to do it? This problem is associated with the difference in education between countries. We have a national body responsible for acknowledging the people’s degree. We have also another tool - the Engineer Card tool. It has only 2 conditions (1 be member of the organisation, 2 - study in a partner university) You can get a Euro Engineer Diploma in Brussels (which is very liked by the UK engineers - because the bureaucracy there is quite difficult).

Student: What do you foresee for being the future? I am from computer science and I have been seeing that we’ve more entrepreneurs and these people care less from people’s title. Do you think it’s a trend or will it stick?

Professor (FEANI): From the point of view of the technique they are engineers because they apply their technical capabilities, but, from the education point of view, they are not. We’re not only in this market (market of engineering jobs).

US has been thinking of doing online courses. After they are finished are they really an engineer?

Student: How do we actually define Engineers?

Professor (FEANI): Every country is free to define it. Here, we have specific criteria (⅓ basic training, ⅓ branch training and ⅓ training).

Professor (FEANI): If we look at the media, without engineers, it wouldn’t be possible. In Europe, we need a real strong industry, and this is the main problem.

Student: I think NGO’s really influences because in those organisations are created an environment of sharing and complementary education that cannot be replicated outside.

What is the future of the NGOs? How will they shape the Engineering World?

It depends on the NGO. Some have these kind of services that enrich the participants positively their education Professor (FEANI): Let’s be careful. As an NGO, if we want to have this more services, we cannot compete with other companies (consulting, etc.). A very good example, it is really impossible to be active on the branch without being part of these organisations.

Student: Sometimes, we see a lot of NGO’s contributing to the students’ CV, but at the end of the day, how are they influencing our studies?

Student: In Finland, for example, the government asks the NGO’s for advice on specific questions of their branch.

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Student: Never forget that we are using leadership skills, and we are transposing them to the working market.

Student: My point of view is not that, they are complementing because they sure do. I am just asking on the actual influence.

Student: It takes some time. I do partially agree because it would be awesome if in a year we could get results, but I think it takes time.

Hanija: In EDU ID, we analyse the information and present it as papers.

Professor (SEFI): Every university is different. Perhaps, have the idea that we are not changing. Like Bologna took some time but gave us a lot of freedom to do things differently in every countries.

Things are changing - you can share your experience and learn with others (in conferences, for example), and bring those to your environment. And we have a global world - the difference is coming little by little and NGO’s influence comes from bottom to top - slowly but some things are noticeable.

Student: Do you think that too much freedom is bad?

Professor (SEFI): We all should assume that we are on a continuous learning society, so we all have got to keep expanding. You have to lay the foundations and then expanding, so maybe to find a middle point.

Student: Did NGO’s have an impact on the Bologna Agreement?

Professor (SEFI): I knew that at the time, NGO’s had some impact and still help to update it. SEFI is working on it right now, but it is not a tangible work - you can see that something you said is recognised in the documents but it is not linear.

Student: Our LBG had an LEoE, had a paper and sent it to a conference. If all LBG’s did one, 94 papers would be done, and this would translate in a great influence on our education.

Professor (FEANI): This is a big change of NGO’s - be the interface between Universities and Industry. University gives the students basic knowledge; companies give them a more directed training, but most do not have means for it, so NGO’s could have a role in this.

Student: NGO’s influence can me marked as a good platform, but also for giving students to open their minds (meet a lot of people and share ideas, change universities if they think they made a wrong choice, etc.).

Student: University produces a product for the companies. NGO’s have a field of action here, and we should ask feedback from companies whether they are liking or not the product. In this moment what is being asked to companies?

Professor (FEANI): In my area, 20 years ago, there were not any engineers. We tried to give a really fast formation to students but that wasn’t possible. Now, we don’t need so many people.

Nevertheless, back then, what helped to solve the problem was an NGO. Student: I see more and more companies creating a sort of educational system inside the companies. I feel it is something that will happen a lot and it seems bad?

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António: Is not that because we are seeing ourselves as a product. It is a point of view. Why are we being used by the companies and why not the opposite - the people using the companies?

Student: Usually, this way of thinking goes to IT students, because of companies need them. In other branches, it is the other way around. The market can do it, but you cannot.

Professor (SEFI): Once a year, we do a job fair with companies, that has the mission to attract the best students. It is very normal that in 2, 3 years, you will need other competences that you did not have with your degree. We are long life learners. All are looking for everyone.

Professor (FEANI): What we try to do in FEANI? We try to explain that lifelong learning is a very important part of education, there is a lot of effort to re-industrialise Europe. NGO’s can have a give a big impact.

Hanija: We were not on the same level but we concluded that NGO’s that we have influence but not impact. The influence is small but with baby steps, it is getting bigger. NGO’s can definitely be a bridge between stakeholders.

Professor (FEANI): We have to help Universities to develop creative people, which is a quality necessary for today’s market.

AUTHORS Dragana Manasova, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia Dominik Ivancan, University of Maribor, Slovenia Hanija Bujas, University of Maribor, Slovenia Ivona Stojanovska, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia Ksenija Ulicevic, University of Novi Sad, Serbia Maxim Hubin, KU Leuven, Belgium Pablo Guerra, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

FURTHER READING ON BEST EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT ● ●

BEST public website - Educational Involvement pages (​link​) BEST Educational Involvement publications (​link​)

CONTACT If you have any questions or ideas, please contact ​education@BEST.eu.org 24