The international project “Modernization of Pedagogical Higher Education by Innovative Teaching Instruments” (MoPED) of the EU Erasmus + KA2 programme ‒ Development of Higher Education Potential, № 586098-EPP-1-
2017-1-UA-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP was launched in October, 2017. For the first time in the history of the European Union’s grant programmes (TEMPUS and ERASMUS + KA2) the project’s beneficiary and coordinator (in which 9
universities ‒ 3 European and 6 Ukrainian ones participated) was a Ukrainian higher education institution ‒ Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University.
The project ran for three years. Due to the pandemic it was extended and finished in April, 2021. Today the results of this unique international project were presented by the participants of the beneficiary’s team at a press-conference with the mass media representatives. At the meeting with journalists, there were Igor Tsependa, the Precarpathian National University rector, Halyna Mykhailyshyn, a participant of the academic group of the MoPED project at Precarpathian university, a PNU vice-rector of education, Liubov Ziniuk, the head of the projects management department of the university, the project coordinator, Olena Budnyk, the director of the Centre of Innovative Educational Technologies “PNU EcoSystem”, set up within the framework of the project, the head of the academic group of the MoPED project at PNU, participants of the academic group of the MoPED project from PNU, students and teachers from Ivano-Frankivsk schools who took part in trainings and conferences in the framework of the project.
“This project is interesting not only for Ukrainian teachers, but also for universities taking up these problems, as well as for European universities. It, in the first turn, encompassed not just updating the material base and demonstrating models of what modern Ukrainian school must be today, but it made a very important step in methods. It gave teachers, students an opportunity to begin mastering courses on innovative education methods in
an educational process. The first examples of fulfilling the project witness that both pedagogues and students, who do these courses, get acquainted with them as well as develop new innovative ideas”, remarked Igor Tsependa, the
PNU rector.
The budget of the project “Modernization of Pedagogical Higher Education by Innovative Teaching Instruments” (MoPED) of the EU Erasmus + KA2 programme ‒ Development of Higher Education Potential, № 586098-EPP-1-
2017-1-UA-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP was 861 thousand 445 euros. Thanks to European experience, the Ukrainian universities of the consortium have developed 21 new courses on contemporary methods of teaching STEM subjects with implementing ICT, 6 of which are taught in English. In addition, the course on professional English for educators has been created and the guide on creating the teacher’s profile with the list of digital competencies has been developed.
Home universities-partners have created six innovative classes that were turned into centres of teaching innovative instruments. The team at the University of Deusto (Spain) has developed the game on creating such innovative classes at establishments of secondary and higher education. “This project has a national significance too. The outcomes of that research were used by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education to shape the primary school teacher’s card. The project entirely conforms to the requirements of the New Ukrainian school”, underlined Liubov Ziniuk, the project coordinator. At the press conference, it was mentioned that for three years of its fulfilment there was conducted a great number of trainings, workshops and an international conference for university lecturers and school teachers, where they were able to upgrade their digital and didactic competencies, etc.
The team at the Precarpathian University worked to solve the project’s principal tasks that foresaw developing new courses referring to STEM-education for the university students. We have developed 4 of such courses and introduced them into the educational process, one of them is in English. In addition, for lecturers, scientists, students and teachers the professionals of the Centre of Innovative Education Technologies “PNU EcoSystem”, set up in the framework of the project, prepared and published various scientific output as to the use of European experience in an educational process at a cost of the project. During the project implementation the Precarpathian
University team had an opportunity to study at best universities in Europe, particularly the University of Deusto (Spain), the University of Cyprus and Krakow Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Poland,” told the head of the
project’s academic group of MoPED at PNU, professor Olena Budnyk.
Additionally, the team of the Centre’s professionals held a range of trainings for lecturers of different faculties/institutes of PNU, where they acquainted them with the newest European educational practices of teaching STEM-education, of implementing digital instruments of education in an educational process. Simultaneously, such trainings were held for regional school teachers as well.
In the course of the press conference, Olena Budnyk presented an exhibition of the scientific output, prepared by the participants of the academic group MoPED.
In their turn at the press conference, Alisa Pavliuk and Nataliia Kis, the teachers of the primary school №26 of Ivano-Frankivsk city council, who were active participants of thematic trainings within the framework of the project, told about the implementation of the acquired experience in their work with pupils, under the condition of online and mixed education in particular. In the framework of the MoPED project at the Centre of Innovative Education Technologies “PNU EcoSystem”, there were held robotics classes for school pupils.
It is noteworthy that Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University is a principal beneficiary and coordinator of the international project “Modernization of Pedagogical Higher Education by Innovative Teaching Instruments” (MoPED) of the EU Erasmus + KA2 programme ‒ Development of Higher Education Potential, № 586098-EPP-1-2017-1-UA-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP. Its partners in the project there became ‒ the University of Deusto (Spain), AGH University of Science and Technology (Poland), the University of Cyprus (Cyprus), Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav, Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University, South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynskyi, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, and Ltd.“Quality Ukraine”.
Find out more about the project on the site: http://mopedproject.eu/ua/