Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy

Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy is a partner in Erasmus+ ENTER project

The project network's kick-off meeting was held in February in Porto.

ENTER aims at creating a novel multicultural and international approach for formal post-graduate professional and pedagogical education for engineering educators. Furthermore, it is focused on low cost and convenience, thus strongly based on e-learning technologies, whenever feasible, and designed with the objective of being internationally recognized and accredited.In order to design the ENTER iPET programme, a thoroughly market and requirements analysis of HEIs and educators needs will be conducted, focused on the EU and partners’ countries, but also considering opportunities in other markets like North Africa, South America and Asia. The ENTER iPET programme, accredited internationally by Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy at TTU, proposes a hierarchy of 3 structured educational programs for engineering educators, in the context of the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning. The actual design is to one of the outputs of the project, but we foresee 3 educational programs with different content and duration (names are tentative):- iPET-1 Short-focused (e.g. 2 ECTS) – “Qualification Development” Certificate;- iPET-2 Professional Retraining (e.g. 8 ECTS) – Diploma ‘’Higher Education Teacher”;- iPET-3 International recognized (e.g. 20 ECTS) – a full programme leading to international accreditation as “Engineering Educator”. Programmes have modular structure, i.e. modules of iPET-1 are included in iPET-2, and both are included in iPET-3. This provides a sustainable improvement path that educators can walk at their own pace. It will also be possible for the educators to combine modules from different ENTER network members. Whenever possible, ENTER will avoid duplicating existing offers. For example, the International Engineering Educator Certificate ING-PAED provided by IGIP will certainly be a reference in the iPET programme design.

For the knowledge transfer of the ENTER project, a consortium of technical universities of Russia and Kazakhstan will be established, which will be signed by the rectors of technical universities of Russia and Kazakhstan on May 28 at Tambov University of Technology. The next meeting of the ENTER network will be held on May 28 – 31, 2019.

The Surveying & MARiTime internet of thingS EducAtion (SMARTSEA) project aims to develop an advanced interactive certified MSc course related to Maritime & Surveyor IoT applications that will train individuals with the necessary skills & knowledge to work in the rising “Smart Maritime & Surveying” industry. The course is also formulated to stimulate transversal competences such as the increased sense of initiative & entrepreneurship. The course is designed to follow the European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System (ECTS) credit standards for certification recognition across the EU.

The innovative curriculum comprises of interactive teaching methods & partnerships with expert academic & maritime organizations in order to give to the students a solid background for starting a fruitful career in the industry. The course duration is 8 months, plus a 1-month maritime (on the job) experience, a month after the end of the teaching period. During the execution of the course, 3 mobility periods are programmed. For the first two (14-day) periods the students & educators from one university will travel to the other and vice-versa, to participate in the large-scale laboratories, where as the 3rd period (1 month) is reserved for the maritime on-the-job training. Although the course will be taught in English, local language lessons will be provided to enable the participants to immerge in the local culture during the exchange periods. The course will be open for participation for anyone with a basic marine, electrical or mechanical technical background. Priority will be given according to their academic performance. In the case of equivalent academic level, participants from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds (including refugees, asylum seekers & migrants) will be preferred.

Riga Technical University Center of Academic Excellence in cooperation with Heilbronn University (Germany), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), University of Latvia and Rezekne Academy of Technology (Latvia) launches the project "School of Academic Excellence: Values through Knowledge", funded by the "Baltic-German Higher Education Office".

The project envisages the organization of an event – School of Academic Excellence with the aim to promote long-term cooperation between Latvia, Germany and the Baltic States to improve the quality of higher education by organizing an interdisciplinary event for the synergy of SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and EDUCATION in university didactics.
The duration of the project is 01 August 2021 - 30 October 2021, but the time of the set of events is planned between 07 August 2021 and 08 October 2021, which will include seminars, round table discussions for teachers with the participation of foreign scientists, for example, the seminar “Innovation as a value of knowledge transfer in practice". The set of events will also include RTU's annual Methodological Conference entitled "Experience as a value in STEM study courses in higher education", including presentations and discussions of RTU and Latvian university participants.
The second day of the event envisages practical activities of the participants in the workshops “Transfer of knowledge in practice: content development in the study process”, where teachers will have the opportunity to improve their study courses or separate topics, including some innovations (methods, approaches) for study process improvement.
Direct target group of the project: 100 participants (academic staff, researchers, doctoral students from RTU and other universities of Latvia); Lithuania (1), Estonia (1), Germany (1)
Indirect target group:
1. Video recording of the event will be provided by noon on the first day, which will provide access for all interested parties (we expect 500 spectators at RTU and Latvia)
2. The theses will be published on the RTU website and will be available to a wider audience.

The project of the Baltic-German Higher Education Office is financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) from the funds allocated by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.