Globalisation is also steadily increasing in education and science, so that intercultural and international experiences are already becoming essential in teaching. Digitisation offers the opportunity for diverse access and cooperation options, which the international research project “TRAC – Teaching and Learning Research Across Countries” makes optimal use of. Building on a 10-year research and teaching cooperation of the cross-teaching courses with the Johannes Kepler University Linz and the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, a blended learning course on research-based learning at master’s level is being further developed within the framework of the project. In the future, this course will be further developed in terms of content and technology in cooperation with other partner universities in Austria, Slovakia, Northern Macedonia and Jordan and integrated into the teaching programme of the cooperation partners.

The long-tested blended learning, a combination of virtual and non-virtual learning settings and methods, enables an inter-university exchange and is intended above all to strengthen the digital skills of the students. A digital preparation of the seminar content opens up the possibility for the students to engage deeply and intensively with the subject content and scientific methods beyond the classical lecture situations. In addition to the subject-specific and scientific knowledge, the courses are primarily intended to strengthen the students’ digital skills. In interactive exchange, they acquire the technical handling of media and learn to move confidently in them in order to be optimally prepared for future professions in business and administration. In addition, intercultural skills and the ability to work in a team are particularly promoted through the cooperation courses. Two important aspects for this, peer learning and peer feedback, are used in all phases of the learning setting and support as methods the interaction of the students and independent learning in the various work phases.

So far, interdisciplinary student teams from Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, Johannes Kepler University Linz and Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences have worked together virtually on the research projects. In the TRAC project, the course is now to be further developed technically and organisationally, with the aim of broadening the internationalisation of the cooperation. The digitally supported part of the teaching can be adapted to international conditions through English-language and intercultural adaptations and enables new teaching-learning arrangements. The focus is on joint work, independent of spatial and temporal boundaries. In addition, the TRAC project deals with the organisational and technical challenges of the international learning scenario.

• 01.12.2020-31.12.2021

• Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences
  Department of Economics
• Johannes Kepler University Linz
  Institute for Digital Business
• University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
  Study Programme Digital Business Management
• Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopije (SCMU),
  North Macedonia
  Faculty of Computer Science (FCSE)
• Comenius University Bratislava
  Slovakia
• Nelson Mandela University, Port Elisabeth
  South Africa

• Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Programme IVAC