Written with Afke Groen and previously published by Active Learning in Political Science on 13 February 2020. We are going to be honest with you from the outset: this blog is not concerned with our teaching experience, but rather with an ongoing research project that we are working on with our colleague Johan Adriaensen and our student assistant Caterina Pozzi (both also Maastricht University). And it gets worse: this is a blog that ends with a cry for help.
We are working on a research project studying undergraduate curriculum design in European Studies, International Relations and Political Science. Surprisingly, there is relatively little research on actual curriculum design within the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, in particular when it comes to such broad fields. Sure, there has been a debate about what curriculums in these fields should look like. Some of our colleagues have, for instance, asked whether there is, or should be, such a thing as a core curriculum in European Studies, while others have looked at interdisciplinarity in the field of Politics. Similarly, at the policy level there have been some attempts to flesh out benchmarks and standards in European Studies, and International Relations and Politics. But what is missing is a thorough attempt to build a database of programmes in European Studies, International Relations and Politics, and to compare the characteristics of these programmes. This is where our ongoing research project comes in. The project builds on previous work by Johan and us, published in the Journal of Contemporary European Studies and European Political Science (in production). Both articles concern the training and monitoring of generic skills in active learning environments. Our new project takes a broader perspective on skills and methods in curriculum design. We conduct a meta-study of undergraduate programmes offered by the member institutions of APSA, ECPR and UACES. We particularly explore three key themes: (1) the teaching of skills, practical experience and employability; (2) the degree of interdisciplinarity; and (3) the flexibility and coherence of the programme. All in all, we hope to provide (1) a unique and comprehensive database of how curricula are organised in practice. On this basis, (2) we will distinguish various types of curriculums and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. Our final objective is to (3) formulate best practices for university teachers and programme developers. As such, the database also promises to be a useful resource for university policies, in particular in light of challenges such as the constantly changing objects of study in European Studies, International Relations and Politics and an increasingly diverse and international student body. Although we are still in the phase of gathering data, we can already share a couple of interesting observations with you. For one, while some universitiesseem to think that programmes in European Studies, Politics and International Relations are no longer really necessary, it is good to see that this has certainly not meant that future students cannot choose from a wide array of such programmes. Indeed, the curriculums that we have coded so far look quite different. For instance, our own BA in European Studies seems to pay much more specific attention to methods and skills development through separate courses (and many of them). Another striking difference between programmes, is the extent of choice offered to students; while some programmes consist of large, compulsory courses mostly, others include a wide array of electives or ‘tracks’ from diverse fields of studies (sometimes with over 100 or even 200 optional courses!). The latter is also one of our main challenges: it is not always clear what exactly constitutes a programme’s curriculum. Often, the respective websites are not very clear – generally university websites are rather dense – and it is impossible to find core programme documents that might help us here. This is particularly the case for Eastern European and US programmes, which often revolve around a major/minor set-up. Hence, we need your help! If you are based at a university and/or are teaching in a programme that is a member of APSA, ECPR and UACES, your input would be very welcome. If there is any documentation that you think might help us code Eastern European and US programmes, we would be very grateful if you could send it to [email protected]. We do offer something in return. First, we will keep you posted through Twitter and blogs. Second, we hope to organise panels and workshops on curriculum design at conferences, such as during this year’s European Teaching & Learning Conference in Amsterdam. If you would like to contribute to such get-togethers, do let us know. Finally, our aim is to eventually provide colleagues with access to our database, starting with those of you who help us move the project forward!
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This post was originally published by CERiM on 8 December 2016 Brexit, the Eurozone and refugee crises, and increased criticism on globalisation have shed doubts about the future of European integration. This certainly isn’t the first time that the European Union (EU) is going through a crisis, nor is it the first time that European integration is questioned. But, this mood seems to be more acute than ever before. This also presents challenges for teaching European Studies.
The rationale for studying European Studies The livelihood of any programme in higher education depends on its ability to attract new students. Yet, recently current and prospective students have been asking questions about the need to continue studying Europe. For instance, during Politico’s Harry Cooper’s recent Jean Monnet Lecture on 13 October 2016, an audience member asked whether he had made a good choice by opting for our BA in European Studies. I don’t think that a total collapse of the EU is very likely. The EU – including all its pros and cons – has become an integral part of political and even public life in Europe. Criticism of the EU tends to be equated to being anti-EU, yet often doesn’t concern its existence as such, but rather what it does (and doesn’t!) do. Several post-Brexit polls have actually shown that support for the EU has increased since. European Studies transcends disciplinary boundaries, helping us to better understand contemporary developments such as Brexit. It does so in an international context, with the majority of students and staff being non-Dutch, thus allowing for different national perspectives to be brought in. Perhaps even more importantly, students acquire knowledge and skills that allow them to continue studying in a variety of fields – in fact, many do and most of our alumni actually don’t end up working in Brussels. Keeping European Studies up-to-date The fact that there are more generic reasons why studying European Studies still makes sense, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t adapt our programmes to take into account the ever-changing context in which we teach. Having been programme director myself, I know that keeping programmes up-to-date is time consuming and challenging, having to take into account final qualifications, teaching and exam regulation, etc. But, there are other ways in which we can address the contemporary issues that students want to learn about and discuss. First, Maastricht University prides itself on its use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In its purest sense, PBL assumes that we don’t provide students with reading lists, but that they search for literature themselves, based on gaps in their knowledge. Even when literature is given, PBL allows for critical discussions that extend beyond that literature. So, when applied properly, PBL offers many opportunities to bring in contemporary developments. A second way in which we can address the need to adapt to contemporary developments, is by stressing extra-curricular events that can help to establish a link between what we teach and the everyday reality of Europe. Within Maastricht, this includes the events organised by CERiM, which have focussed on all kinds of contemporary issues, but also lectures and debates organised by Studium Generale or the city and province. What’s next? European Studies student Kerstin Spath recently wrote in the university newspaper Observant that “the EU offers us so much. So why can’t it just stay like that?” The EU will, of course, change post-Brexit (as international students in the UK are already experiencing), but it is also likely to stay. And if it doesn’t we could always consider changing to European Disintegration Studies, in which we will address the question “what on earth went wrong with the EU?”! A few years ago Strut Records issued a great series of records, called Inspiration Information. It featured a number of experimental collaborations between, for instance, Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics and Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen. You should definitely check those records out, yet I am not going to review them for you here. However, I recently had to think of this series. A few weeks ago the programme directors of the BA ES, Esther Versluis and Arjan Schakel, asked me whether I would be willing to do an 'inspiring' and 'informative' (yes) Problem-Based Learning (PBL) simulation during Maastricht University's BA Open Day on 12 November. I more or less said 'yes' straightaway - they are very persuasive - despite not really knowing what was expected from me. I knew that the current video on our website only shows part of what PBL actually entails. Beyond that, I was told that I could put forward a list of current 1st and 2nd year students whom I would like to do the simulation with. Additional information on what was expected from the students and me came just a few days before the 12th: a short presentation and a simulation of a group meeting. In 30 minutes... Maastricht University prides itself on its use of PBL, but it is something very difficult to simulate in an inspiring and informative way in 30 minutes. Tutorials usually last about two hours, based on the so-called seven jump that actually extends from one session to the next. Preparation also entails quite a lot of reading, depending on the assignment. This is where another one of the aforementioned words came in, namely 'experimental'. I sat down for a drink and a discussion with Arjan and we eventually devised a number of basic background slides, as well as four slides with an actual BA ES assignment that would be used to simulate four PBL situations:
This may all sound very organised, but the experiment continued as the seven students that were going to help me out - Astrid, Elisa, Jeanine, Justine, Lukas, Nicole and Sophie - only found out what we are going to do on the day itself. But guess what? They did an excellent job! And while some tweaking is still needed, the three sessions were considered inspirational and informative and prospective students and their parents asked very relevant questions. To come back to Strut Record's series; an experimental setting can stimulate inspirational and informative collaboration. Something that we too often tend to forget; something that we may want to cultivate more in our teaching. In fact, Astrid, Elisa, Jeanine, Justine, Lukas, Nicole and Sophie did so well that we even nearly became trending topic on twitter! Nearly.
If you are interested in finding out more about PBL in European Studies, check out this chapter by my colleagues Heidi Maurer and Christine Neuhold: Maurer, H., & Neuhold, C. (2014). Problem-based learning in European Studies. In S. Baroncelli, R. Farneti, I. Horga & S. Vanhoonacker (Eds.), Teaching and learning the European Union. Traditional and innovative methods (pp. 199-215). Dordrecht: Springer. |
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