Programme

Wednesday, 2 December

Arrival in Tbilisi

Thursday, 3 December

Venue: Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

10:30 - 11:00

Registration

11:00 – 12:00  

Opening session

Welcome by:

• Professor Vladimer Papava, Rector of Tbilisi State University, Georgia
• Tamar Sanikidze, Minister of Education and Science, Georgia  
• Janos Herman, Head of EU Delegation to Georgia - TBC
• Ralf Rahders, Head of Unit, Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture of the European Commission (EACEA)

Introductory presentation by the SPHERE Team

• Outcomes from HERE events in 2015 - Elizabeth Colucci, EUA/SPHERE Team

• Introduction to the conference logic and update on Bologna Process developments - Michael Gaebel, EUA/SPHERE Team 

12:00 – 13:00      Session 1 (Plenary): The many dimensions of student-centred learning

The session will explain the multiple dimensions of the concept of student-centred learning, defining them and explaining how they have evolved. The presentations will touch upon realities, challenges and successes in different approaches to student-centred learning and frame the specific topics that the conference will deal with. 

Chair and Presentation: Ramon Torrent, University of Barcelona/SPHERE Team

Manja Klemencic, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University and Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge 

13:00 – 14:00      Lunch

14:00 – 15:30      Session 2 (Plenary): Making student centred learning a reality – Implications for the institution 

Chair: Katerine Basilaia, Erasmus Mundus PhD Student/Project Coordinator, Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Panel:

José Gines Mora, Visiting Professor, UCL- Institute of Education, London
Sibylle Heilbrunn, Dean, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Kinneret Academic College, Sea of Galilee, Isreal 
Mostafa Radwan, Professor of Engineering, Fayoum University, Egypt
Darya Miron, student/HERE, Belarus

The panel will discuss the different educational approaches and changes in the classroom that need to be employed to make student-centred learning reality. This can mean new pedagogic approaches (e.g. problem-based or collaborative learning) or different types of learning spaces that will enable students to be more active learners, acquire disciplinary and transversal skills, and develop into more autonomous learners. 

15:30 – 16:00      Coffee break

16:00 – 17:30      Session 3 (break-outs): Rethinking learning and teaching in higher education institutions

In each of the four groups, the chair briefly introduces the session’s method and schedule (5-10 min) followed by interactive participants’ discussions.  

Chairs:

Group 1: Houdaifa Ameziane, University Abdelmalek Essaadi Tangier, Morocco
Group 2: Svitlana Kalashnikova, Director, Institute of Higher Education, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine
Group 3: Howard Davies, EUA/SPHERE Team
Group 4: Eva Cendon, Director Centre for Continuing Education Research and Education Management, Berlin University for Professional Studies, Germany

• Is there generally a debate on learning and teaching at your institution? What pedagogic and didactic approaches do you use at your institution to enhance learning? Does your institution support the change in teaching and learning methods and how?
• How has student-centred learning been understood and implemented in your institution? What are the reactions of students and staff towards it? Has this also included a change of the assessment methods?  Participants to contribute concrete examples.
• What are the challenges in implementing student-centred learning? How does this affect infrastructure? How does it affect student services and central administration and support staff?
• How far, in your country, does secondary education provide a sound basis for student-centred learning?
• How have new learning and teaching methods impacted quality assurance?

17:30     End of first day

Bus transfer to hotels and then to dinner

19:30     Conference dinner

Friday, 4 December

09:00 – 09:45      Session 4 (Plenary): The role of ICT in learning & teaching

A presentation will provide an overview of and some examples on how ICT can support learning and teaching innovation. Among others, it will draw upon the results of the HERE Seminar in Jordan and related Technical Assistance Missions (TAM). A second presentation will provide a case study on the usage of ICT to innovate learning and teaching in Georgia. 

Chair: Nicolas Patrici, University of Barcelona/SPHERE Team
Michael Gaebel, EUA/SPHERE Team
Ketevan Gurchiani, Associate Professor, Ilia State University, Georgia

09.45 – 11:15      Session 5 (Break-outs) on ICT in learning & teaching

Participants discuss in four parallel groups ways in which ICT is being integrated in curricula, and the successes and obstacles faced

Chairs:
Group 1: Pierre Gedeon, Notre Dame University, Lebanon
Group 2: Zebo Isakova, Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Group 3: Anita Jankovic, University Mitrovica, Kosovo
Group 4: Ketevan Gurchiani, Associate Professor, Ilia State University, Georgia

• What are good examples of how ICT is being used to enhance teaching in your institutions? What are examples of where this has been tried but has not worked? Why
• How mainstreamed is this? Are their incentives for teachers to develop and deploy ICT skills in their teaching methods? What about other institutional support and incentivisation? What are some of the other obstacles and how are they being overcome?
• What are some of the considerations regarding quality assurance? Do you have an institutional approach for this? 

11:15 – 11:30      Coffee

11:45 – 13:00      Session 6 (Plenary): Curriculum design in the context of innovative teaching and learning

Chair: Matija Sokola, Professor of Vocational Studies, Higher Technical College of Applied Studies in Novi Sad, Serbia

Mustafa SAFA, Vice President Academic Affairs Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine
Nadezhda Kamynina, Dean of Humanitarian Faculty, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography/Ministry of Education, Russia
Eva Cendon, Director Centre for Continuing Education Research and Education Management, Berlin University for Professional Studies, Germany

The speakers will illustrate new approaches to curriculum design in the context of innovative teaching and learning. They will offer different perspectives, that of teachers, university leadership and students. The ways in which Bologna structures and instruments can support curricula design should be one aspect of the presentations, as well as partnerships for curricula design (locally, internationally, etc.). 

13:00 – 14:00      Lunch (optional parallel lunch meetings for geographical regions)

14.00     Session 7 (Break-outs): Curricula design in the context of innovative teaching and learning

Group 1: Ways in which Bologna structures and instruments can support curriculum design

• Chair: Samvel Karabekyan, Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Armenia

Group 2: The ways in which teachers can contribute to transforming teaching and learning and they support structures and training they need.

• Chair: Nada Moghaizel Nasr, Honorary Dean/ Rector’s Delegate for quality assurance and pedagogy, University Saint Joseph of Beirut, Lebanon

Group 3: Innovative partnerships in curricula design: between universities, with social partners, with industry, etc. - at national level or internationally

• Chair: José Gines Mora, Visiting Professor, UCL- Institute of Education, London

15:30 – 16:00      Coffee

16.00 – 17:00      Session 8: Closing session

• Discussion with participants on the conference outcomes, Howard Davies, EUA/SPHERE Team

• Presentation and discussion on HERE activities for 2016: EACEA & the SPHERE Team

• Closing Remarks: Ralf Rahders, Head of Unit, Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture of the European Commission (EACEA)

• Thank yous

17.00     End of conference – Closing reception: ‘Celebrating 20 years or Tempus in Georgia’