Newsletter June 2024: Making EPICUR work for you: Collaborating on course design and course teaching

EPICUR is all about bringing together students, researchers and teachers from these different European universities and enabling intercultural collaboration and learning. 

• EPICUR offers students courses in these five priority areas: European Values, Future Intelligence, Global Health, Sustainable Transformation, Transversal Skills. Take a look at the current course catalogue. 
• EPICUR courses are designed to be accessible to a wide range of students. To achieve this, EPICUR courses can be short in-person courses like summer schools, blended courses with short in-person elements, online courses or hybrid courses (in-person and online synchronous teaching).
• EPICUR courses enable students to develop EPICUR international learning competencies in addition to achieving the course’s learning outcomes.
• EPICUR prioritises intercultural and international collaboration for learners and teachers. Courses which are co-developed by teachers from two or more EPICUR universities are particularly welcomed.
• EPICUR supports Life Long Learning (LLL) and Citizen Science courses. SDU has a strong profile in both of these areas. Yurii Chipko, based at SDU RIO leads this work package area. Read the interview with Yurii to find out more about possibilities for LLL and Citizen Science courses, training and resources via the EPICUR project.

Where can I find inspiration and support for designing and teaching EPICUR courses?
EPICUR Centre for International Teaching and Learning (EPIC TLiC)

Earlier this year, EPICUR launched the online EPIC TLiC, designed to support teachers who are engaged with developing or co-developing courses for home and international students. The site includes three sections: Lets’ Connect, Let’s Explore and Let’s Grow. It supplements what we can offer from SDU’s Centre of Teaching and Learning. Check out the flyer  (pdf) and the link via the Q code.

This guide is coming soon, it will be hosted on the EPIC TLiC’s webpage in the Let’s Explore section. The guide will provide accessible guidance and inspiration for teachers and educational developers interested in developing and/or teaching EPICUR courses and learning experiences. It focuses on those aspects of course design and delivery which are particularly associated with EPICUR values, otherwise known as the six ‘I’s: inclusive, interactive, innovative, international, intercultural, interdisciplinary.

When will the guide be available?
Save the launch date 20.09.24, time 13.00-14.30 and Zoom link hereand find out how the guide can support both course design and teaching.

I know about research collaboration but what does teaching collaboration look like? 
Watch a few videos on the EPICUR and SDU Sharepoint site profiling teachers at SDU sharing their experiences collaborating with teachers from other universities. Hear how Alberto engages his students with guest lecturing, so they get the most out of these experiences, how Signe and Klaus integrate different types of online learning activities between their students and students from other universities into their respective courses, and many more examples of ways SDU teachers are collaborating and including international students in their courses.

Great, I hear you saying but what’s in it for me and my students?
Check out this short slideshare,  and hear more about how collaborating on course design and teaching can be beneficial for you and your students. 

Be inspired by this list of ways to collaborate on EPICUR course design and/or teaching.

1. Including guest lecturing
   You already have a validated course which you would like to offer as an EPICUR course. Now you are looking for one or more colleagues from other EPICUR universities to contribute to the course by co-teaching or offering guest lectures either in-person or online. 
2. Shared learning activity between courses
   You already have a validated course which you would like to offer as an EPICUR course. Now you are looking for one or more colleagues from other EPICUR universities who is/are teaching a complementary course. Your two courses may run in parallel or have enough overlap so that the students from both courses could engage in a shared online learning activity. You may also each provide guest lectures on the other course/courses.
   
3. Co-develop and co-teach a new course
   You are looking for one or more colleagues from other EPICUR universities, who teach/es the same subject discipline to co-develop an EPICUR course which you will co-teach. One of the universities will validate the course. 
4. Co-develop and co-teach a new inter-disciplinary course
   You are looking for one or more colleagues, from other EPICUR universities, from different subject disciplines to co-develop a course with inter-disciplinary features, such as ‘Inter-cultural European communication’ which could engage with the intersection of European localities, languages, and regional cultures. 
   
5. Co-develop and co-teach a new inter-disciplinary challenge-based course
   You are looking for one or more colleagues, from other EPICUR universities, from different subject disciplines to co-develop a course focused on a particular global, regional, or wicked problem, such as ‘What should be the goals of education for today and tomorrow’s world?’ which could address cumulative thinking, social and civic involvement, communication, problem solving and mobility.
   
6. Co-develop and co-teach an EPIC Mission course
   You are interested in co-developing an EPIC Mission. EPIC Missions focus on real societal/environmental challenges generally informed by external stakeholders. They are blended courses which start with an in-person 4.5 day summer school followed by online team meetings leading to team presentations in the following January. 

Remember this is an indicative list if you have other suggestions for collaboration get in touch. We will do all we can to support EPICUR course design and teaching.

I have an idea, who do I contact?
If you have an idea for a co-developed/co-taught course, register on Who is Who? available via the EPiC TLC webpage Contact Ida Thøstesen SDU’s EPICUR Institutional Coordinator, who can help you find collaborators. 

• If you want to know more about LLL or Citizen Science via EPICUR, contact Yurii Chipko.
• If you want to discuss developing an EPICUR course, and you are looking for inspiration and pedagogic support, contact Donna Hurford.

Looking forward to hearing from you.