Main outcomes. Due to a history of more than 15 years of mentoring programmes in the Swiss context, we decided to integrate some recommendations resulting from the different and often detailed evaluations that had been carried out for each of these programmes, either on an annual basis, or at the end of a four-year period in the case of the Federal programmes of the Swiss Government on equal opportunity in academia. We believe that the transfer of “best practices” and “lessons learnt” from WP6 towards our colleagues in charge of drafting the mentoring toolkit represents an interesting added value for GARCIA. In line with this decision, we also dedicated a special session on “Lessons to be learnt from the Swiss Mentoring Programmes” during the Swiss project meeting (August 2016) with presentations from members of the UNIL EOO office and from the evaluation process of such programmes from the BASS Office (http://www.buerobass.ch/index_f.php). Therefore, we read most of the documents related to the evaluation, paying particular attention to strategies for evaluating the impact of these kind of programmes, since no control group exists for comparison. In Switzerland, this rather challenging task took different forms. In Lausanne and more generally in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, all mentoring actions are generally evaluated by the participants on the base of ad hoc satisfaction questionnaires to fill out after a meeting, a workshop (as is the case for the REGARD programme) or at the end of a longer action. These evaluations are often delegated to the evaluation services of the universities and their aim is to mostly inform about the satisfaction of participants (mentees and in some cases also mentors). A larger evaluation procedure has been carried out by the BASS Office on a mandate of the Directorate of the Federal Gender equality programme to try to identity the impact of mentoring programmes on the mentees’ career paths and access to academic positions. An on-line survey was addressed in 2012 to 530 participants from 10 different mentoring programmes, which were organised in the whole of Switzerland between 2004 and 2007. Around 40% of the former mentees answered the survey but its results cannot be generalised to the whole population, since they are based on the information provided by the 198 respondents. The main results were: - 75% of former mentees are still on an academic career path; - 12 women are now full or associate professors and 22 have another k...
Main outcomes. In the first round of discussion (discussing the leaky pipeline phenomenon) three out of the four participants totally agreed with statements about a work policy that needs to consider family life, and also agreed that expectations put on men and women regarding investment in work and family had known an “extraordinary evolution” and that the “pressure [on both men and women] is now bigger that before”. Only one participant disagreed with this statement and found that work pressure is now lower than 30 years ago and that gender inequalities in this regard does not exist (Prof. Eli. 1). The second round of discussion was devoted to the discussion of how to assess academic excellence in recruitment procedures. We presented our analytical distinction (nomination criteria vs. competition criteria) and asked the participants if this distinction made sense regarding their experience. The four participants agreed with our distinction. Competition criteria (impact factor, number of publications, postdoctoral abroad research stays…) where seen as more useful to write a first short-list of candidates, and “nomination criteria (the ability to fit in the department, human and social competencies, capacity to be autonomous) where seen as more important for the last round of audition. Our formulation of the distinction between these two set of criteria was judged quite robust and applicable to their experiences. A first set of recommendations for fighting against gender inequality were named as the enhancement of the work environment. Diminution of the work pressure with measures like the diminution of meetings, the organisation of meetings during strict business hours (before 5PM), the diminution of administrative tasks. This diminution of work pressure would allow men and women to achieve a better work/life balance. The second set of recommendation is about the setting up of an institutional gender policy. One of the professor thinks that the university should be more proactive in that matter and have an official gender policy. Another professor think that this gender policy should be linked to the formulation of a “family policy”. The university should communicate more about work/life balance.
Main outcomes. The work presented in this paper is intended to provide a benchmark database for computation and design of tidal turbines. It could be used as a reference for validating new numerical approaches, as well as a guideline for tidal turbine designers. The results have been presented for a generic turbine as well as for a commercial turbine. The numerical predictions for models of increasing complexity have been inter-compared by modelling the same test cases, and validating the results against the measured response of scale model turbines run under the same test conditions. This set of results will help users identify which numerical simulation tool is optimal for a given task, with in the constraints of complexity and cost. The numerical tools and techniques developed as part of the RealTide project have been tuned to adapt to the flow environment surrounding a tidal turbine. These are expected to be used for further comparative studies of turbine performance, and eventually in the design of commercial turbine blades. The comparison study presented within this work also provides a better understanding about how the ’predictions’ from the numerical models match up against the ’observations’ from the experimental models. Subsequent work in the RealTide project is focused on how these predictions and observations contrast against the true behaviour of the turbine in real sea conditions.
Main outcomes. The main conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this workshop can be summarised as follows: 🡺 The use of ICT should be integrated into all courses by introducing new tools in the school and making sure the classroom set up is conducive to digital learning. 🡺 ICT lessons should emphasise collaboration, team-work and problem solving. Subjects should cover: Information, knowledge, the safe use of the computer, software, devices and the internet, as well as critical analysis. Connect the learning process with the ‘real world’ is also fundamental. 🡺 There is a need for more collaboration between Ministries of Education and initial teacher training institutes. This would provide opportunities to teachers during their training to: understand the importance of computer science education and technology enhanced learning , and to get trained on the effective use of technology. 🡺 Parents tend to be conservative and protective towards their children education, and it is therefore important to involve families in the transformation reform, giving them all the relevant information and when possible ownership on the innovation process. 🡺 It is important to raise educators’ engagement in the reform process by: involving them in the programme development, allowing them to co-author multimedia materials, organising experience-sharing opportunities, etc. 🡺 We can equip youngsters with the skills they would need into the ICT sector, but we should also prepare them for the unknown. As we cannot predict what skills will be needed in the future, we must focus on empowering youth giving them more independence, autonomy and the capacity to lead their long life learning process. 🡺 We need to dedicated relevant efforts to support the establishment and development of the National Coalitions, as within those frameworks the private sector and civil society partners can more effectively contribute to the transformation process. In the sections below, the results from the 2014 and 2015 consultations on the integration of computing and coding formal curriculum in the Mediterranean cluster are summarised per Country.
Main outcomes. The main conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this workshop can be summarised as follows: 🡺 As teachers are often not well disposed towards technology, it can be very beneficial to focus on grassroots and hands on initiatives and build on enthusiasm of those committed teachers. 🡺 The new discipline of ICT goes beyond basic development of digital literacy and advances to the field of development of analytical skills of students through exploring appropriate computing environments. 🡺 Computer science needs to be taught in innovative ways, starting possibly in primary education as young children are increasingly using internet (a variety of tools can be used to this end, as e.g. Scratch, Turtle point, Windows phone app studio, robotics, Lego Mindstorms, Bee-Bot, etc.). 🡺 It is important to promote the knowledge value chain. Successful models of collaborations between industry and education, along knowledge value chains, should be identified and benchmarked. 🡺 Industry can play a crucial role in engaging pupils to the ICT sector, however some private companies find challenging to reach out to teachers and students and collaborate with education institutions. 🡺 Tools, resources and initiative provided by industry for complementing, supporting computer science education, have proven to be highly engaging and successful. There should be a higher adoption of these in the classroom. 🡺 It has been suggested that the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs may make available a portal where all vendors offering ICT related education material could promote their solutions and training opportunities. In the sections below, the results from the 2014 and 2015 consultations on the integration of computing and coding in the formal curriculum in the Nordic and Baltic region are summarised per Country.
Main outcomes. The main conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this workshop can be summarised as follows: 🡺 ICT can (and should) have a disruptive impact on education. However, focusing only on equipment while designing a digital plan for a school can lead to: unused infrastructure, lack of crucial elements (training, content, network) to utilise existing infrastructure, fragmented and isolated developments, outdated technologies and missing interoperability. This situation can also have political consequences, discouraging further investments. 🡺 To avoid the above mentioned situation, it is important to make an assessment of the already existing infrastructure, monitor typical and desired usage, analyse in detail what are the pedagogical needs of a school, give the necessary attention to the legal and financial framework to grant sustainability of the plan. 🡺 To support change at a bigger scale, a national plan to bring about ICT based learning is necessary. Bottom up approach is beneficial but top down interventions are also essential to mainstreaming transformation in education. There is a need for program development at national policy level, where system wide decisions can be made. 🡺 Curriculum for education to computer science related competences should undergo a paradigm shift towards coding, web design and mobile application. The most advance and complex elements (e.g. algorithms) should be integrated in already established subject as mathematics 🡺 Learning materials: shortage of project practice and evaluation tools, shortage of appropriate software for youngsters Create a bank of project descriptions for teachers and students In the sections below, the results from the 2014 and 2015 consultations on the integration of computing and coding in the formal curriculum in the Estern-central cluster are summarised per Country.
Main outcomes
