Abstract:

This work analyzes the collaboration developed over a decade between a Spanish university (Universitat de Girona) and institutions in the Maghreb area (Algeria, Tunisia). Experience shows that the greatest focus of interest in the exchanges associated with the Erasmus + program is the mobility of master's and doctoral students, especially from the Maghreb to Europe. The associated program is the Erasmus + KA171. Erasmus + KA171 offers opportunities: a) for students to undertake their academic training and b) staff to undertake teaching roles or train at higher education institutions (HEIs) outside Europe and vice versa. This is known as International Credit Mobility (ICM).

The collaboration between the partners is based on the personal and professional relationships of the researchers from the two institutions participating in each proposal. Specific, but normally general, collaboration agreements are made to convey the relationship between the participating institutions. A good relationship must entail clear and balanced benefits between both partners. Over the years, it has been noted that several of the Maghreb doctoral students involved in mobility have stabilized as professors in institutions in their country, generating a new generation of university professors with relations in the European Union.

In this work, the management and execution issues and detected problems are analyzed, as well as the evolution over the years. Currently, prior training and subsequent follow-up are valued, both virtually. Thus, it is necessary to design e-learning training [1], by tutoring the activities associated with the formation and post-stage. Complementary tutoring activities and specific seminars are also designed. The generation of synergies in teaching programs that allow greater stability and depth in relationships is also highly valued [2]. The experience is that if these teaching-learning programs are not developed between both institutions, the evaluation (when a new program is requested) is usually negative.

In order to know the degree of satisfaction of the participants in the mobilities, the most common issue is to carry out surveys. In general, the response is positive, this perception being common among participants who are staying for the first time.

References:
[1] V.B.. Thati, “Best practices for organization and quality assessment of an e-learning training in higher education,” Edulearn Proceedings, 1498-1508, 2019.
[2] A, Badea, “A model of collaborative thematic development of educational programs in the field of geomatics,” Agrolife Scientific Journal, vol. 12, n. 1, 15-20, 2023.

Keywords:

Erasmus +, mobility, perception, international cooperation, High education formation.