Viadrina participates in conference and ERUA working meeting in the Canary Islands

At the invitation of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, representatives from the ERUA working group on Innovative Teaching and Learning Formats gathered from 20th to 22nd November 2024 to discuss the next steps, upcoming tasks, and the successes already achieved by the working group. Teams from all eight alliance universities, as well as delegates from various universities in Ukraine, attended the event. They engaged in intensive discussions on current topics within the university alliance, such as the development of the Joint Master’s Programme, the implementation and standardisation of micro-credentials, and the ERUA Academic Innovation Laboratory. Also discussed were the planned Call for Innovative Teaching Projects and the further development of the “Training Plan for Teachers and Research Staff,” a professional development programme for academic staff.

In addition to the working meeting, the InnoEducaTIC 2024 conference took place, where various panels presented and discussed their work on innovative teaching and learning methods. The European University Viadrina was represented by Franziska Liebetanz, Head of the Centre for Teaching and Learning (ZLL).  With her contribution "Collaborative spaces at the university - writing counselling by students for students: A collaborative space for academic writing", she aligned her work with the   mission statement of the European Reform University Alliance:

"We, the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA), have set up and developed our consortium around our foundational principles as a reform alliance. By pooling our individual strengths and past achievements, we will increase our societal impact by creating a powerful academic hub for critical and innovative contribution to a free, more equitable and democratic Europe. We believe that to shape peaceful, just, and sustainable futures, higher education and research must be transformed." (ERUA - European Reform University Alliance)

“The mission statement emphasises the potential of collective action to contribute to a fairer and more democratic society in Europe through innovation and critical engagement. At the same time, the alliance highlights that the transformation of higher education, research, and teaching is a prerequisite for achieving this goal,” said Franziska Liebetanz. She sees one approach to fulfilling this mission in creating spaces at universities that foster collaborative learning and working. One example she presented was the peer writing support programme for students. “The European University Viadrina has extensive expertise in this area and occupies a unique position within the ERUA network in the field of academic writing. This expertise is, in my opinion, a distinctive feature of Viadrina’s Centre for Teaching and Learning,” says the expert.

The interest of the conference participants was correspondingly high, especially in light of current issues relating to artificial intelligence (AI) and academic writing. The questions of how students can use AI applications for academic writing in a meaningful way and how academic writing can be taught sustainably at universities despite AI techniques were discussed intensively - both at the conference and at the ERUA working meeting.

Franziska Liebetanz sees the fundamental transformation of the university education system as a key question for further work in the ERUA network “How can we create spaces that sustainably enable innovation, critical thinking, reflection, and innovative teaching methods?” Developing structures that promote innovative teaching, independent of the engagement of individual educators or institutions, remains a key goal for the ERUA university alliance.

Further information:
https://erua-eui.eu/2024/12/05/innovative-learning-pathways-future-of-academic-education-in-europe/
https://atetic.ulpgc.es/InnoEducaTIC/
https://erua-eui.eu/2024/11/28/call-for-innovative-teaching-initiatives-join-the-erua-educational-movement/

Sophia Grigull