Kenya, Uganda and Zambia have serious challenges in utilizing the agro-sector jobs and wealth creation potential in national development. The reason for this is that the agro-graduates are not equipped with work-life relevant competences because they are not trained with modern pedagogical methods. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a powerful way to educate students in systems thinking and to equip them with 21st century relevant competences. Most agricultural Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) do not offer PBL based courses. HEI staff are not trained in using student-centered methods, and university-industry cooperation is weak. European HEIs, such as HAMK, Aalto and UNIPV do research and apply sustainable education approaches for global development. In the AgriSCALE project, the EU HEIs aim to develop a contextualized PBL education method appropriate in SSA. The project addresses the strategic bottleneck of the HEIs to equip graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset and competences to solve complex development challenges in the agro-sector. The project cooperation is based on PBL methodology development, the training of teaching staff on PBL methods and tools, and joint piloting of PBL cases in cooperation with the student teams involved. The objective is to establish PBL into the agro-entrepreneur curricula of the partner HEIs in KE, UG and ZM. EU HEIs bring their PBL expertise to the project and all HEIs contribute to student field challenges; Aalto facilitates PBL learning in real-life contexts; Aalto and HAMK co-lead competence-based quality assurance; UNIPV develops the PBL expert teachers network and Best Practice PBL Manual for dissemination to SSA; and HAMK in the overall management and research-based PBL methodology development. At the end of the project, the six participating HEIs will continue the PBL entrepreneurship courses.
1.Inclusive change: to modernize the education of Agro-sector in SSA context to meet the requirements of the working life. 2.Educational reformation: to guide the transformation of the current curricula in the partner institutions using PBL & creating new courses and/or modernizing the course offering.3.Guidance of teachers: to develop teachers’ and staff’s educational & pedagogical match the requirements.4.Learning by doing: to develop educational structure & sustainable learning ecosystem.
The national visions of Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia aspire these countries to become middle-income economies in which all citizens have enhanced entrepreneurship, innovation, and lifelong learning opportunities. To reach out to these objectives, universities and their teaching staff need new competencies, and a network-based collaborative learning ecosystem with industry/societal partners to produce innovative, well-educated, and entrepreneurial citizens. There was a need to transform curricula.
<< Background >> The national visions of Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia aspire these countries to become middle-income economies in which all citizens have enhanced entrepreneurship, innovation, and lifelong learning opportunities. To reach out to these objectives, universities and their teaching staff need new competencies, and a network-based collaborative learning ecosystem with industry/societal partners to produce innovative, well-educated, and entrepreneurial citizens. There was a need to transform curricula. << Objectives >> 1.Inclusive change: to modernize the education of Agro-sector in SSA context to meet the requirements of the working life. 2.Educational reformation: to guide the transformation of the current curricula in the partner institutions using PBL & creating new courses and/or modernizing the course offering.3.Guidance of teachers: to develop teachers’ and staff’s educational & pedagogical match the requirements.4.Learning by doing: to develop educational structure & sustainable learning ecosystem. << Implementation >> The AgriSCALEs’ aim was achieved in development cycles using a participatory action research approach where participants planned, designed, and implemented activities, observed, & reflected. KE, UG, & ZM curricula & staff development needs were identified, & the activities were contextualized to ensure ownership & relevancy. EU partners facilitated processes & learning by providing online training & workshops in KE, UG, ZM and EU. Industry/societal partnership networks were established. << Results >> AgriSCALE results highlights institutional level & teachers' competence development in three key areas: competence-based curricula, student-centred teaching methods, & collaborative teaching & learning ecosystem. Curricula have been revised to be competence-based to allow graduates to holistically develop their professional knowledge & skills to be able to apply, create, & innovate sustainable solutions for society benefit. HEI teaching staff’s professional teacher competences is developed.