Co-Creation
From the outset of the EuroTeQ project, Co-Creation was identified as a key component in developing a strong openness to the perspectives, viewpoints and approaches of all participants. To work together successfully, it is sometimes necessary to leave one’s own comfort zone and explore the unknown. Hierarchies are dissolved, and students and professionals meet at eye level. This form of collaboration requires new structures and forms of moderation and decision-making. The EuroTeQ project will do just that.
Design
By designing a course with a focus on co-creation, you empower students to become active participants in their learning journey. It encourages collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and a sense of ownership, resulting in a more engaging and meaningful educational experience. Here are some steps to help you design a course that encourages co-creation:
- Clearly define the learning objectives of the course, ensuring that they align with the subject matter and desired outcomes. However, leave space to co-create additional learning objectives with students to incorporate their interests and goals.
- Provide students with opportunities to shape their learning pathways based on their individual interests and goals. Offer a variety of elective topics, projects, or assignments that students can choose from to tailor their learning experience.
- Connect course content to real-world applications and challenges. Encourage students to identify and explore how the concepts they learn can be applied to solve practical problems or contribute to their field of study. Collaboratively develop case studies, simulations, or hands-on projects that reflect real-world scenarios.
- Design opportunities for students to learn from each other through peer-to-peer interactions. Incorporate group work, discussions, and collaborative projects where students work together to solve problems or explore complex issues where students share their knowledge and learn from their peers.
- Who are the stakeholders in your course, how do you plan to onboard them and who can help you?
- How can you involve other EuroTeQ teachers from partner institutions to develop your course?
Action
- Create an inclusive and supportive classroom environment that fosters collaboration and encourages students to actively participate. Emphasize the value of diverse perspectives and create opportunities for students to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas.
- Collaborate with students to define the desired learning outcomes of the course. Discuss what knowledge, skills, and competencies they want to acquire by the end of the course. This co-created framework will give students a sense of ownership and purpose in their learning journey.
- Provide guidance and support as they develop and present their own projects, presentations, or experiments. This encourages active participation, critical thinking, and a deeper exploration of the subject matter.
- Leverage technology and digital tools to facilitate co-creation and collaboration. Online platforms, discussion forums, collaborative document editing tools, and virtual learning environments can enhance the ability of students to work together, regardless of physical location.
- How do your students and various stakeholders co-create in practice and what kind of support do you provide?
- How do you foster student-led activities and encourage students to take the lead in designing and facilitating learning activities?
Reflection
- Involve students in the course design process by seeking their input and feedback. Conduct surveys or hold focus groups to understand their learning goals, interests, and preferences. Incorporate their suggestions and co-create the course structure, topics, and activities together.
- Regularly assess the effectiveness of the strategies implemented and make necessary adjustments.
- Share your challenges and good onboarding experiences with your colleagues
- Evaluate your own ability to teach a subject and facilitate co-creation activities, discuss it with colleagues or teachers’ supporter (e.g., 360 feedback tool)
- Did you manage to facilitate knowledge exchange with and between all stakeholders involved?
- What was your main role as a teacher/facilitator/project manager in this course?
- To what extent did the students’ process/product align with learning objectives?
Further Information
See how teachers from the EuroTeQ partnership have done this in courses that have already been offered in the EuroTeQ course catalogue.
You can pay particular attention to the following courses:
- Innovation Pilot (DTU)
- Energy transition – the path towards net zero (DTU and TUe)
- Interactive Jupyter notebooks (DTU and CTU)
For ideas on specific tools and methods to use check the EuroTeQ Learning Lab’s inventory padlet which has been compiled based on questionnaires and interviews conducted with EuroTeQ teachers.
If you want to know more:
- 21 Competences
- Corinna/Monamie Report – Boost
- An example of how you can practice co-creation: D5.2 Joint Research Project
- Collider homepage
