Abstract:

Disruptive past brought new paradigms in teaching as well as in learning at all levels of education. In Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) hybrid scenarios (models) of education found their use as a feasible way of working even after the Covid pandemic. Supported by technology, traditional place-based classroom methods are combined with online interaction, providing innovative educational approaches commonly known as blended teaching and learning. This happens within Universities, but also internationally, and it can vary in terms of duration. Blended Intensive courses, alternatively known as Bootcamps, got the attention of both - lecturers and students.

Although, there have been many BIPs or Bootcamps organised in recent years, blended learning in an international environment is still in its initial stages. The expectations are that such programs will increasingly be part of the curriculum. To become a citizen in an ever-interconnected world culture, young people need to be familiar with the ways of acting and thinking of people from other social strata. Well-developed exchange programs can play an important part in this development.

The Blended Intensive Programs (BIP’s) of Erasmus+ of the European Union combine professional topics related to the field of study of technology driven Innovations, design thinking, designing sustainable technology-supported solutions, with domain-unspecific or more soft skills.

In the setup of these programs various higher education institutions from various countries work together to design short international course(s) where in the first phase students and teachers have sessions online. This stage is followed by on site sessions lasting one or two weeks. Students and educators learn from each other while gaining experiences in a new environment. This international cooperation aims at the exchange of learning practices across countries in the European Union.

Although anecdotal evidence shows that educational institutions, teachers as well as students are positive about these programs, research on the effects on the students is lacking. This paper aims to start filling this gap. For that reason, feedback on acquiring interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary but also unspecific non-discipline related skills and knowledge surfaced as a topic of interest and worth investigating.

In the paper researchers will cover both the lecturer’s impressions on the blended programs as well as the student’s perspective. The goals of the BIP are broader than only cognitive learning outcomes, the social aspects are of importance as well. Going to another country and participating in a group of strangers with other customs can be challenging. A safe social environment is an important success factor for learning.

The feedback collected from several BIPs is of importance in evaluating how expected benefits from these programs are being accomplished and provides an indication on how such an undertaking can be both educational and fun - two aspects that likely mutual enforce each other. This paper itself, done jointly by educators from the University of Zagreb and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, is in itself a result of the cooperation which began in a BIP.

Keywords:

Blended Intensive courses, Bootcamps, experience, expectations, feedback.