Development and implementation of a digital student preparatory course for developing academic skills and literacy practices Erasmus Project

Project Title

Development and implementation of a digital student preparatory course for developing academic skills and literacy practices

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

In this project, a student preparatory e-learning course consisting of a set of video-based modules will be developed, produced, and made available online in several versions and in several languages. The current project will create a fun and innovative digital tool aimed at demystifying university life, and introduce new students to core academic skills and literacy practices needed for university success. The course will constitute of digital-based pedagogy that will increase students’ active learning and make them more prepared for university life. In addition, the flexible preparatory course is expected to increase students’ learning motivation and confidence, thereby preventing them from dropping out. Consequently, the project will contribute to improving unemployment rates and increasing the flow of students among the participating countries.

Throughout the project, team members from the three partner universities in Stavanger (UiS, Norway), Kaunas (KTU, Lithuania) and Iceland (UI, Iceland) drawing on their knowledge, will develop a common platform and themes to underpin the new course. The course will consist of several short video modules and other digital content, such as podcasts, quizzes and other instructive videos that combine learning with humor. Each module will focus on one theme, such as ‘what is academic writing, what is independent learning, how to navigate a campus, ‘what is expected of you as a new student, and who is working at the university. Importantly, themes for the modules will be developed using student feedback from an online survey sent to students at all three universities. By getting a grasp on the campus area, on what they can expect as they walk into the lecture theatre, laboratory or library for the first time, on the academic standards, on where they can meet new friends, etc., students will feel more confident and at home when starting at a university. This will build a strong foundation for university success and will minimize the risk of dropping out.

To give all new students an overview of their specific campus area and introduce them to some of the current students and academic staff belonging to their specific university, separate modules of the online course will be created for each university . However, as the content of the course will be planned in collaboration on a common platform, a large part of the content will be shared between the different versions of the course. By designing it as an online course available in several languages, including English, and by making it accessible for free to everyone, all incoming students will be able to prepare for university before they start studying, including students from other universities. The current situation with distance learning forced on us all from the novel COVID19 virus shows even more clearly how necessary a program such as ours is needed. If the physical space at universities continues to be closed to students, then online orientation and preparedness will be necessary. In addition to the development and production of a digital student preparatory e-learning course, the project will analyse the impact of the online course on first-year students’ personal and academic state of preparedness. Results will be communicated by the partners in relevant meetings and conferences and will be published in a scientific journal if possible.

Our main objectives for the project are to:

• Explore the personal and academic challenges first-year students face at the participating universities.
• Explore the personal and academic challenges the academic staff experience with first-year students.
• Develop and produce a set of creative preparatory videos and other forms of digital content for students based on the feedback from the first two objectives.
• Develop a platform for the digital content.
• Link the new digital content to other extant relevant content, such as podcasts and online courses.
• Disseminate the new course through student support services and provide information about the course to all new students.
• Evaluate the impact of the course on first-year students’ personal and academic state of preparedness.
• Present the results in meetings, at conferences and in a scientific journal .
• Strengthen the European cooperation in order to improve students’ academic performance, as well as to modernise and digitalize (e-learning) higher education systems.
• Increase students’ attention towards mobility exchange and studying abroad.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 328880 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITETET I STAVANGER & Country: NO

Project Partners

• HASKOLI ISLANDS
• KAUNO TECHNOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETAS