Best practices
Collaboratorium: how to create effective spaces for learners in the Joint European Master
Users: Training providers (public), Training providers (private)| Theme: Cross-border initiatives | Action: Education programmes/courses | Beneficiaries: Learners (STEM background), Learners (non-STEM background)
In this Collaboratorium approach students tackle real-world “wicked” problems and work in small interdisciplinary, and often transdisciplinary teams, in the design of socio-technical solutions, through user-centered and community-centered approaches.
Students with different educational backgrounds, from different institutions, countries and cultures, collaborate in challenge-based master-level research and educational projects for societal impact. Building a community of learners is key to successful learning.
The students acquire core technical and engineering knowledge and hands-on experience regarding advanced digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, conceptual modeling, digital law, ethnography, sociology, philosophy, international development, and various other subjects. These skills are trained through co-creative projects.
Mobility is naturally blended into our education design via Summer Schools where all students meet in person. Read more about EURIDICE’s Collaboratorium interdisciplinary master pilot projects.
The challenge?
- How can we build and educate young professionals to be both skilled and reflective for the Digital Society?
- How should these innovative curricula look like?
- How can we give our students a sense of belonging to a group, in an international, digitally connected context?
- How can we avoid that every student is working together while being alone behind their computer screen?
Our solution
Our proposed solution was coined: Collaboratorium. This is both a hybrid digital/physical interconnected workspace, and an educational concept. It combines onsite in-presence classrooms and workspaces, connected via digital collaboration bridges.
Outcomes
The programme’s success has seen it be shortlisted in the Best Master’s degree category at the Irish Higher Education Awards. We have successfully graduated two cohorts of students who previously had found the capstone project as a barrier to progression. This might be for time poverty or company IP reasons. Particularly in the SME case, the release of IP in the form of a project can be a particular issue. The flexible nature of this masters degree programme has also proven attractive to women who are returning to the workforce. The gender breakdown thus far has been 60:40 Female:Male, which s unusual in the Science and Engineering faculties.
Key takeaways
Virtual education is efficient to train people remotely, however, presential collaboration is important for human well-being and enhances learning capacity and creativity. We advise to design your education such that groups are together in one space, while virtually communicating with other groups who are remote.