Abstract:

Roughly 5,000 students from 24 universities in 14 European countries participate in the ATHENS program annually. This 10-day exchange program is held twice a year, offering about 60 one-week scientific intensive courses in each session. Topics come from the spectrum of research fields at the partner institutions and focus on engineering, natural sciences and mathematics, but also courses in the field of art, politics and humanities are offered.

In addition to the experiences with the overall program, we will report on concept and design of our own intensive course on Agile Software Development. We apply blended learning to impart theoretical knowledge, we use game-based learning for in-class exercises, we foster project-based collaborative learning for practical implementation. Thus, the participants gain insights into the real-life application of project management methods and international collaboration in heterogeneous teams despite the limited course length.

Keywords:

Student exchange program, International Student Teams, Blended Learning, Game-based Learning, Collaborative Learning, Teaching and Staff exchange program.