Ghent and Lisbon collaborate in 'Start locally, debate globally'
The new Blended Intenstive Programme will start in autumn 2023
10 Jun 2023 00:00 | Communication'Start locally, debate globally' is a programme in which nursing students from HOGENT, together with students from other European universities of applied sciences (and other programmes) and Erasmus students, explore and debate a variety of topics. The initiative has so far taken the form of a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), but from next academic year on it will become a complete optional course subject as a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) within the nursing programme. HOGENT lecturers Ellen Goossens and Irene De Cock presented the course together with their colleagues from Politécnico de Lisboa, the university of applied sciences in Lisbon and U!REKA's Portuguese partner, at the U!REKA Connects 2023 event in Amsterdam at the end of May.
The COIL programme was developed this academic year within the nursing course, in collaboration with the engineering course at Politécnico University College. The choice to involve programmes that are far apart in terms of content was intentional: one of the objectives was to take the students out of their comfort zone, through language (language of instruction was English) but also through their different backgrounds and (thus) different perspectives.
The COIL programme was developed this academic year within the nursing course, in collaboration with the engineering course at Politécnico de Lisboa. The choice to involve programmes that are far apart in terms of content was intentional: one of the objectives was to take the students out of their comfort zone, through language (the language of instruction was English) but also through their different backgrounds and (thus) different perspectives.
Face-to-face
Although the students appreciated the programme, one constant emerged from their comments afterwards: the lack of face-to-face sessions, in addition to the online programme. This prompted the initiators to further develop ‘Start locally, debate globally’ into a blended intensive programme (BIP), which implied that some additional conditions had to be met.
This is because a BIP requires more international partners and at least 15 participating (international) students. The initiators of 'Start locally, debate globally' added the condition that each partner participate with at least five students. Meanwhile, in addition to Politecnico, universities of applied sciences from Poland, Finland and Ireland are part of the partnership. Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences is also interested. At HOGENT, the nursing course integrates BIP as an optional course in the fourth year. In addition, the course is also part of most international curricula for Erasmus students, which adds to the international dimension of the initiative. It is also offered in 'regular' courses.
The BIP will take place in November 2023 during an on-site project week at HOGENT. Some online sessions will precede it, mainly intended to give the (internationally composed) student groups a first opportunity to get to know each other, plan and prepare.
A broad theme
The theme of the project week is 'dominance', a topic that allows for a very broad interpretation, which is also the intention, Ellen Goossens explains: "It can be about racism, inclusion, but also about artificial intelligence or political influence. Such a broad concept allows plenty of flexibility."
Students will not only work among themselves during the project week, but also go out into the field. Visiting the parliament, taking a focused city tour or doing a survey are some of the possibilities. The students process their experiences and findings per team in a final presentation (in English), which is an important part of the final evaluation. "Each college decides for itself how to evaluate their participating students," Irene De Cock explains.
There is also plenty of interest in the Blended Intensive Programme outside HOGENT, Irene adds: "It appears to be the first time that HOGENT is rolling out such a programme. But we are ready for it with the nursing course."
Read more about U!REKA Connects 2023 here.
This article was originally published on the HOGENT website.