Laboratory of teaching, learning and education.
EDU_Lab teachers, experts and professionals are ready to fill the gaps in the teachers’ competences using the experience of our university and our international partners.
Laboratory of teaching, learning and education.
EDU_Lab teachers, experts and professionals are ready to fill the gaps in the teachers’ competences using the experience of our university and our international partners.
University is a place providing studies for adults, who already have life experience. Usually the teachers learn how to teach through experience; often they lack time and possibilities to explore and study innovations in education methods.
EDU_Lab didactic policy is to ensure that the process of the University’s studies involves the use of contemporary learning and teaching methods consistent with the current reality that provide conditions for the effective involvement of students in the learning process and thus help the students to develop their professional and general competences contributing to their personal development, active citizenship, social integration and employment.
EDU_Lab:
Jurgita Barynienė ( coordinator); Audronė Daubarienė; Aleksandras Targamadzė; Asta Daunorienė (head); Raimunda Česonienė; Darius Eidukynas; Neringa Dubauskienė; Jurga Vitkuvienė; Ramūnas Kubiliūnas; Vilmantė Kumpikaitė – Valiūnienė; Jovita Vasauskaitė, Vitalija Jakštienė; Miglė Kriuglaitė-Jarašiūnienė; Vida Malinauskienė; Akvilė Čibinskienė; Vaida Jonaitienė.
Objective of this training:
To motivate the teachers to choose and apply appropriate advanced didactic methods for assurance of the high quality of studies. Together with other fellow participants you will have a possibility to examine and assess your teaching skills and to improve a general structure of your study module.
Training programme:
Day/Time | Content | What will we learn? |
Day 1 (9:00 – 15:00) |
Creation of educational activities: – process of teaching and learning; – learning outcomes; – structure of the study module. |
– Study module creation/evaluation procedure. – Closer look into learning outcomes. – Study module structure analysis.
|
Day 2 (9:00 – 15:00) |
Teaching: – teaching methods. |
– Teaching methods used for working with large groups. – Teaching methods used for working with small groups.
|
Day 3 (9:00 – 15:00) |
Teaching: – blended learning; – mini-lecture or workshop delivered by the participants. |
– Blended learning methods’ choice and application. – To provide constructive feedback.
|
Day 4 (9:00 – 15:00) |
Assessment: – assessment methods; – quality assurance before and after assessment. |
– To choose suitable assessment methods. |
You are expected to:
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Objective of this training:
improvement of skills of teaching in English. You will have a possibility to demonstrate your skills of teaching in English, prepare or improve a study module for international students as well as prepare a plan for improvement of your language skills.
Training programme:
Day/Time | Content |
Day 1 (9:00 – 16:00) |
– Particularities of teaching in foreign language. – Lecturer’s competences and challenges. – Content planning and communication during lectures. Analysis of practical examples. – Theory and discussions about communication peculiarities while teaching in foreign language in small groups. Analysis of practical examples. – Presentation of Academic Wordlist and its application, practical tasks. |
Day 2 (9:00 – 16:00) |
– Presentation and analysis of the study module in foreign language prepared by you. – Theory and discussion about peculiarities of assessment and provision of feedback in foreign language. – Presentation of the fragments of pilot lectures or workshops and discussion. – Preparation of the individual plan for improvement of English language skills – Review of the training and discussion of its outcomes. |
You are expected to:
Important:
Training is in English language. Participants of this training should have B2 level English language skills.
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Objective of this training:
to acquire theoretical knowledge about metacognitive thinking and practical skills on how to enable and motivate students to learn actively and independently.
Training programme:
Day/Time | Content |
Day 1 (9:00 – 16:00) |
– The changing role of the teacher. – Metacognitiveness in the context of modern learning. – Attitudes of a successful teacher. – The influence of motivation on effective learning. |
Day 2 (9:00 – 16:00) |
– Self-directed learning. – How to teach students to learn. – Enabling independent work using metacognitive learning strategies. |
You are expected to:
Objective of this training:
To introduce new learning tools and methods, to learn how to organise the integrated learning process for the students, who are present in the classroom and for those, who are studying remotely and are unable to be present at the lectures. You will have a chance to work with several e-learning tools and systems in practice. Practical experience shows that students are interested in e-learning; it makes them more active, improves the quality of learning and increases its effectiveness.
Training programme:
Time | Content |
Before lunch (9:00 – 12:00) |
|
After lunch (13:00 – 16:00) |
|
You are expected to:
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Objective of this training:
acquisition of deeper knowledge and skills in organisation of virtual and blended learning with the help of e-learning tools and methods.
Training programme
Time | Content | What will we learn? |
Day 1 | ||
9:00 – 17:00 |
Review of the basics of work with AC. |
How to: login as an external student, work with windows, prepare for the lecture, prepare voting tools, prepare and conduct surveys, use chat window, find a video and prepare it for work. |
Scenario of virtual synchronous mutual learning. |
Key elements of the scenario of virtual synchronous mutual learning. |
|
Preparation for interactive lecture. |
We will learn to prepare a lecture plan, to draw up anticipating activation elements; learn how to upload slides to AC virtual room, how to prepare survey questions and how to set a programme or a website ready for demonstration. |
|
Conducting of the interactive lectures in practice. |
Practical tasks related to: login to AC virtual room, preparation for the lecture, interactive lecture with activation of its participants, demonstration of a programme or a website on screen and in the window, use of the whiteboard, conducting of the survey. |
|
Day 2 | ||
9:00 – 17:00 | Practical session according to “flipped classroom” scenario. | |
Seminars, where everybody becomes a lecturer and a speaker. |
You are expected to:
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Objective of this training:
Provide the lecturers with the practical skills of the application of MOODLE virtual learning environment in the study process.
Duration – 16 academic hours (4 workshops of 3 hours).
Training programme:
Day | Content |
Day 1 |
Introduction of VMA Moodle Introduction: VMA, Moodle, organisation of e-studies at the university. System’s homepage System’s participants and management of personal data Creation of a new course Adding of the new course and login to the course Preparation and management of the course environment |
Day 2 |
Management of learning resources Uploading and management of course files Provision and management of learning material – resources in the course topics Provision of multimedia (YouTube) Video and audio conferences: ViPs. Organisation of communication. Dictionary Organisation of communication and use of appropriate tools in the course Communication by text messages Preparation and use of the dictionaries of terms and abbreviations Creation of tasks Preparation, execution and assessment of tasks |
Day 3 |
Preparation of tasks and tests Assessment according to the criteria and topic Assessment of the works uploaded by students in PDF format Possibilities for students’ self-assessment and peer-review assessment Preparation, execution and assessment of tests |
Day 4 |
Work with students Methods and tools for information of the course participants Course participants and their management Formation of groups and organisation of the course activities in groups Possibilities for monitoring of students’ progress Assessment. Preparation for a new semester Assessment and operational reports, and their management Copying, updating of course and its preparation for new studies Credit – individual work (60 min.) |
You are expected to:
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Objective of this training:
To provide the lecturers with the knowledge and skills of the application of the problem-based and project-based learning in the study process.
Training programme:
Day/time | Content | What will we learn? |
Day 1 (9:00 – 16:00) |
Problem-based learning/teaching: theory and practice |
IN THE MORNING: PBL as a method/system Advantages, stages, roles Method application in practice IN THE AFTERNOON: Assessment Discussion, homework |
Day 2 (9:00 – 16:00 |
Project-based teaching/learning: theory and practice |
IN THE MORNING: PBL as a system PBL (project) application methods Formulation of the problem IN THE AFTERNOON: Preparation of the students Progress of the project Assessment |
You are expected to:
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Challenge based learning (CBL) is the teaching/learning method when students and teachers work together while solving real-world problems (Education, 2011). Challenge based learning is based on the experiential learning; it encourages the cooperation between students and different stakeholders: scientists, business enterprises, public and non-governmental organisations with the purpose of defining substantial ideas, asking considered questions, identifying, investigating, proposing and implementing a sustainable solution in terms of environmental, social and economic factors (Rådberg et al., 2020). This learning method is based on the open education idea which is based on cooperation, clarity, relevance, involvement, encouragement, effectiveness and efficiency, and implemented with the use of digital tools, means and media (https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/open-education)
STRUCTURE
The structure of the challenge based learning consists of three main stages: engagement, investigation and acting.
The engagement stage begins with the presentation of a “global idea”. The students are invited to ask questions to help them clarify their ideas and decide on a specific direction for the development of their solution. At this stage, it is very important to define and work with the idea that is beneficial to society.
At the investigation stage, the students analyse the specified idea deeper and ask additional questions to clarify the additional knowledge required to solve the challenge. At this stage, the students define the activities and resources that would facilitate the successful solving of the challenge. When the collected information is organised, the received data are analysed using various tools and the help of the mentors.
At the acting stage, the students use the analysis data to search for the solution of the challenge. They do it by creating prototypes, experimenting, consulting within the teams of students, with business, society, etc. When an appropriate solution is found, the action plan is made; the drawings, detailed descriptions are prepared for its implementation, the material and indicators are selected for the assessment of the benefits of this solution. After proper preparation, the solution is implemented. Afterwards, the results and success of its implementation are analysed.
CHALLENGES AND THEIR TYPES
We are surrounded by various challenges in today’s world. Some challenges require our immediate response, and we search for solutions here and now (for example, COVID-19 pandemic); other challenges require a reserved approach, and we come to the search for their solutions step by step (for example, the depletion of natural resources). Just imagine, if every one of us would take responsibility and dared to contribute to solving the challenge.
Challenge – a situation, circumstance or another important element defined in one word, a sentence of a brief comment (for example, climate change, learning communities, etc.).
A challenge can be proposed by a social partner, a teacher or a team of students. While preparing a challenge, it is important for the challenge stimulate significant solutions which are based on innovations and creativity. It is important to identify the knowledge of which disciplines will be required for the students to solve the challenge, to forecast the possible failures and create a mechanism for their prevention.
The process of solving of the challenge promotes the development of technical and mathematic skills, strengthens teamwork and effective communication as well as the competencies of the 21st century. When choosing a challenge, it is important to define the duration of its solution and the scope of activities (workload), the involvement level, the depth of research and the level of activities when the challenge is both solved and implemented.
The most common classification of 4 types of challenges:
Sources: Digital promise. “Challenge Based Learning”.
Nano challenge is more similar to project based learning and takes 4-6 hours of classroom and 4-6 hours of the students’ individual work (Conde et al., 2019).
Mini challenge usually takes approximately 2-4 weeks, spending at least 40 hours working on the challenge; 20-30 of them in the classroom and the remaining 10-20 hours of students’ individual work (Conde et al., 2019).
Standard challenge – one-month or longer challenge including the intense work of the student in all the stages of the solving of the challenge. The final result of the solution of the standard challenge is an implemented challenge assessed by a respective environment. It is particularly suitable for the processes of studies when the challenge can be implemented within 3-6 months.
Strategic challenge – a challenge planned at the level of various institutions. The challenge is solved and implemented in 6-12 months or longer period. It is a complex and complicated challenge that requires significant involvement of students.
SOLVING CHALLENGES
Challenges can be solved in three methods:
TEAMS OF STUDENTS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE PROCESS OF SOLVING CHALLENGES
Challenge based learning method enables the creation of the general learning environment including the students, teachers and social partners interested in the result of the solution of the challenge (Renz et al., 2019). Challenge based learning provides the students with the possibility to make contacts, create partnership networks with a team and the different stakeholders in the result of the solution of the challenge. While forming the teams at the beginning of the challenge based learning, it is important to consider the knowledge and competencies of the members of the team. The teams of students can be formed in various methods:
While organising the process of the challenge based learning, it is very important to allow the students to take responsibility for the challenge and the dynamics of the activities of the team.
ASSISTANCE
If you are interested in the challenge based learning, search for the answers to various questions – the experts of the challenge based learning will help you find the answers and integrate the challenge based learning in the study processes.
You are kindly invited to join the ECIU University initiative and integrate the challenge based learning process in your study modules. Contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt.
Join our one-hour round table organized by ECIU Partner Hamburg University of Technology. The round table discussions will address questions, ask for the feedback, exchange ideas and promote teachers’ network. More information here.
READINGS
Nichols, M., Cator, K., & Torres, M. (2016). Challenge Based Learner User Guide. Redwood City, CA: Digital Promise.
Johnson, L. F., Smith, R. S., Smythe, J. T., & Varon, R. K. (2009). Challenge-based learning: An approach for our time (pp. 1-38). The New Media Consortium.
Jensen, E. (2008). Brain-based learning: The new paradigm of teaching. Corwin Press.
Conde, M. Á., Rodríguez-Sedano, F. J., Fernández-Llamas, C., Jesus, M., Ramos, M. J., Celis-Tena, S., … & García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2020, July). Exchanging Challenge Based Learning Experiences in the Context of RoboSTEAM Erasmus+ Project. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 442-455). Springer, Cham.
Kohn Rådberg, K., Lundqvist, U., Malmqvist, J., & Hagvall Svensson, O. (2020). From CDIO to challenge-based learning experiences–expanding student learning as well as societal impact?. European Journal of Engineering Education, 45(1), 22-37.
USEFUL LINKS
Edu Trends | CHALLENGE BASED LEARNING
ColLab. ColLab is an ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership about collaborating and sharing innovations in teaching and learning in higher education.
This informational webpage about Challenge-Based Learning is part of an Innovation of Education lab of ECIU university and a product of work package 3.
The European Commission’s support for the production of the ECIU University content does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Objective of this training:
review of peculiarities of the study programme construction, so that we could prepare a study programme corresponding to the latest regulations of development of the programmes of higher education and to the market trends in cooperation with various interested parties (students, lecturers, social partners, etc.).
Day/Time | Content |
First Day (9:00 – 17:00) |
|
Second Day (9:00 – 17:00) |
|
You are expected to:
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
![]() |
Let’s creat beautiful boards, documents, and webpages that are easy to read and fun to contribute to. |
Socrative is your classroom app for fun, effective classroom engagement. |
|
![]() |
The tool that turns information into knowledge. The app helps to organize information visually and the connections between topics will become straightforward. |
![]() |
Kahoot is a game-based learning and trivia platform used in classrooms, offices and social settings. |
Invite a mentor of EDU_Lab to your lecture and get a constructive feedback. Many teachers have already used this opportunity. A few testimonials:
Teacher Jurgita: “Mentor’s participation in the lecture was very useful, because the mentor provided particularly valuable insight on the parts of the work that are performed well and the ones that could be improved. It is very useful to get a review of your teaching practice by an unrelated person, who sees it with fresh eyes and provides a reasonable constructive feedback.”
For more details please contact us: edu.lab@ktu.lt
Self-assessment stage is particularly important in every activity. It is a key step towards the improvement of the quality of your activities. Approach of the lecturer is also important in the assessment of the lecturer’s activities – lecturer’s self-evaluation, ipsative assessment, and self-assessment. It is an assessment, characterised by the person’s measurement of his/her activities under the previously created and acknowledged criteria.
For more detailed information apply to edu.lab@ktu.lt
Do you have questions regarding preparation of the study module card, choice of educational activities or assessment method? Would you like to add some variety to your lectures using information technologies, but you do not know which tool could be suitable for your specific audience? Would you like to know how to motivate your students?
EDU_Lab encourages all teachers to seek advice on various didactic issues.
Consultations are provided:
on Mondays 1.00pm – 5.00pm
on Tuesdays 1.00pm. – 5.00pm
You can register for consultations by email edu.lab@ktu.lt
Teachers Cafe
Teachers Cafe is a traditional KTU event – once per month KTU teachers gather together to discuss the issues relevant to the academic community. It creates informal and safe environment for communication that enables discussion on various issues, facilitates making new connections, and finding like-minded people.
Teachers Cafe takes place in the last week of the month. Detailed information is provided to KTU lecturers by email.
Analyzed topics:
__________________________________________________
2016
Hot questions about studies for Vice rector for studies. Organized by EDU_Lab.
Stress management techniques. Organized by EDU_Lab.
Let’s draw mandala together. Organized by EDU_Lab.
__________________________________________________
2017
What did we learn after basic didactics course? Organized by EDU_Lab.
Lunch with EDU_Lab. Discussion on the lectures assessment. Organized by EDU_Lab.
Discussion on the MA + model and competencies, on the current situation and future perspectives. Organized by EDU_Lab.
Get acquainted with the capabilities of the Bloomberg lab. Organized by EDU_Lab and a School of Economics and Business.
Synergy of business and science. Organized by EDU_Lab and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design.
What can we learn from Design Thinking method? Organized by EDU_Lab and Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.
__________________________________________________
2018
Moodle for Student Engagement. Organized by EDU_Lab and ICT center.
Digital detoxification. Organized by EDU_Lab and a School of Economics and Business.
__________________________________________________
Erasmus+ foundation
The traditional model of “Education factories” is dying. Inputs from Management, Strategic Forethinking, and Anthropology helped us understand how the world is evolving, the trends and the future scenarios we might face in a short time period. Developments in Technology have opened an unlimited set of options to support us on designing new collaborative learning models.
We are far from applying the knowledge we have gathered. Despite some front-innovators – countries like Finland; schools like La Fundació Jesuïtes Educació (Spain) or Escola da Ponte (Portugal) and alternative learning organizations like the Kaospilot (Denmark) -, Europe still hasn´t leverage on the know-how of these pilot experiences (proven to be accurate and successful) and is lagging behind other innovative knowledge economies across the world.
The Future of Learning Journey will set the foundations of a new learning Era and will guide the development of the 21st (and beyond) learning communities, facilitators and learners.
Project aims to:
Project partners
Head of Teachers' Center for Academic Competence
K. Donelaičio gatvė 73 - 409, Kaunas
phone: +370 (670) 10 073
email asta.daunoriene@ktu.lt