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Sharing Teaching and Learning Experiences – Brain Gain Program

Sharing Teaching and Learning Experiences – Brain Gain Program. Ru z a Ostrogonac Ses erko - University of Western Australia Petar Santrac – The Faculty of Civil Engineering, Subotica. Introduction.

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Sharing Teaching and Learning Experiences – Brain Gain Program

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  1. Sharing Teaching and Learning Experiences – Brain Gain Program Ruza Ostrogonac Seserko - University of Western Australia Petar Santrac – The Faculty of Civil Engineering, Subotica

  2. Introduction • There is a big gap between engineering curriculum in developing countries (DC) and less developed countries (Laces), • Lack of funds and digital resources, • Political instabilities in some LDCs, • The conflict in former Yugoslavia has left universities in newly formed states in a very poor state.

  3. Old fashioned curriculum, • To long studies, • Enormous amount of duplication in teaching and administration, • Poor infrastructure, • Lack of funds, • Unmotivated staff with extremely law salaries compared to their counterparts in DCs.

  4. Support Programs • There are a number ofdifferent support programs around the world, • One of them is World University Service Austria (WUS), • An association committed to the promotion of the human rights in education on the basis of academic freedom and university autonomy, • It has consultative status with the United Nations and the UNESCO, • It has set up local offices in five cities in South-Eastern Europe (SEE), Belgrade, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Pristina.

  5. WUS Austria Activities • BRAIN GAIN PROGRAM: Invite academics originating from the region to lecture courses which are not available at the SEE universities, • The COURSE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: for the implementation of new or modified courses, • eLearning TASK FORCE PROGRAM: creation of a collaborative environment between the academic community and third parties in Serbia.

  6. The aim of BRAIN GAIN PROGRAM • To provide international scientific exchange and cooperation, • “Brain gain-effect" by linking guest lecturers to already existing networks in their home countries, • Make them a driving force of knowledge transfer and quality assurance in their countries of origin.

  7. Guest lecturer • Worked for 20 years in the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Subotica, The University of Novi Sad Serbia, • Left country in 1995 and since then has been teaching at the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics at the University of Western Australia, • Was invited in 2003 to lecture the courses which are not available at the SEE universities.

  8. Introduction of new unit • VISUAL COMMUNICATION • multi-disciplinary collaboration of the whole range of graphical expressions: • computer graphics, • engineering freehand sketching, • technical illustrations, • diagrams, • poster presentations, • photography, • movies, • web pages.

  9. Teaching philosophy and expected outcomes • To emphasize development of professional skills rather than content delivery: • The ability to communicate effectively in visual, written and oral way, • The ability to solve engineering problems, • The ability to work in teams, • The ability to work independently and develop life long learning skills, • To test the possibility of delivering teaching and learning in English.

  10. Learning activities • Lecturers – to provide information, • Tutorials: • Freehand drawing, • Computer graphics, • Team project, • Poster presentation of the project.

  11. Acquired outcomes • Projects were assessed and awarded, • Projects were of high quality, of similar standards to their counterparts in Australia, • Students responded adequately to versatile teaching and learning techniques: • They showed that they can communicate effectively and efficiently in visual, oral and written forms, • They were able to work in teams as well as independently, • They showed ability and enthusiasm in using the latest technology once it is accessibleto them, • The use of English had positive outcomes.

  12. Discussion • Constant lack of funds is halting progress in engineering education in SEE, • In their training students are exposed only to first two steps of Bloom’s taxonomy: knowledge and understanding, • Significant changes should be considered to provide active and deeper learning and provide movement towards next levels of Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid: application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation: • Emphasize development of professional skills, • Link knowledge from different engineering disciplines, • Move teaching and learning process from lecturer to student and organize learning activities during the whole term, • Final exam should be only a part of versatile assessments.

  13. Conclusion • To make a change: • Use WUS Austria and similar resources, • Take active role in Bologna Declaration, • Provide permanent staff development training in teaching and learning centres, • Encourage teaching and learning research, • Use global information system, attend international conferences on engineering education and talk to academics from different parts of the world, establish contacts, cooperation, • Link to international journals on engineering education and read what is available online, • Visit leading universities.

  14. Big thanks to WUS Austria rose@civil.uwa.edu.au, santrac@gf.su.ac.yu

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