The project „Strengthening Teaching Competences in Higher Education in Natural and Mathematical Sciences – TeComp“ is aimed at improving the quality of higher education in the field of natural and mathematical sciences at higher education institutions in Serbia and Albania in line with advance EU practices, thereby enhancing their comparability and competitiveness in Europe and beyond. This wider aim will be achieved through completion of the set of specific objectives concerned with the areas where the measures should be applied:- to enhance professional competences and skills of teaching staff through training courses in contemporary pedagogical approaches, methodologies and educational technologies; - to upgrade educational infrastructure as a basis for wider integration of modern pedagogical principles and technologies in teaching and learning;- to deliver new/modified courses in psychology, pedagogy, methodology of teaching, and technology enhanced learning at the PC HEIs in line with the modern European strategies;- to strengthen personnel infrastructure through the introduction of continuous professional development in the system of higher education.According to these objectives, the proposed project is expected to achieve the following outcomes:- Identifying and adopting the necessary measures and actions required for quality enhancement of teaching and learning processes;- Upgrading educational infrastructure;- Training of teaching staff for harnessing pedagogical and methodological principles and new modes of teaching and learning;- Development of methodology and platforms for wider integration of ICT in teaching and learning.The project will particularly impact on raising awareness among teaching staff in all educational fields on the necessity of continuous professional training in pedagogy and teaching methodology, and wider integration of modern educational technologies in teaching an learning.
The main aim of the TeComp project is to enhance professional competences and skills of teaching staff in the field of natural sciences and mathematics, through training courses in modern pedagogical principles, methodologies, and educational technologies, and thus to upgrade educational infrastructure. The intention was to use the project to design curriculums at PC HEIs, modernise subjects, accredit programs, and deliver a part of new/modernised courses under the supervision of EU colleagues.
Vast reforms of the higher education systems in Serbia and Albania in the past fifteen years, aimed at the full integration in the modern European framework, were necessitated by the expansion of contemporary technology. In the field of natural and mathematical sciences new study programs were created which increased requirement for the change in skillset of teachers and greater integration of new technologies accompanied by modern pedagogical approaches in teaching and learning.
<< Background >> Vast reforms of the higher education systems in Serbia and Albania in the past fifteen years, aimed at the full integration in the modern European framework, were necessitated by the expansion of contemporary technology. In the field of natural and mathematical sciences new study programs were created which increased requirement for the change in skillset of teachers and greater integration of new technologies accompanied by modern pedagogical approaches in teaching and learning. << Objectives >> The main aim of the TeComp project is to enhance professional competences and skills of teaching staff in the field of natural sciences and mathematics, through training courses in modern pedagogical principles, methodologies, and educational technologies, and thus to upgrade educational infrastructure. The intention was to use the project to design curriculums at PC HEIs, modernise subjects, accredit programs, and deliver a part of new/modernised courses under the supervision of EU colleagues. << Implementation >> All the activities planned by the project application were implemented during the eligible project period. Due to circumstances caused by Covid, partners were forced to change the schedule of activities, with EACEA’s approval, so to get best possible results. Many activities were held online until the situation allowed to hold them in person. That enabled partners to retake what was lost while having a much larger number of PC HEI teachers trained (everyone could participate in all trainings). << Results >> Western Balkan HE space got enriched by 55 new/innovated accredited and 24 approved innovated BSc/MSc courses, 87 modernised subjects (mostly attended by two generations of students), an accredited PhD study program, produced training materials and an accredited Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course. Two platforms for teaching and learning and students’ peer review are developed. Rulebook on CPD and Strategy for improving the quality of teaching guarantee project sustainability.