‘OUT-DOOR is a three-year project that has received a grant of €400,000’, the project coordinator, dr inż. Anna Laska-Leśniewicz of the Institute of Mechatronics and Information Systems tells us. ‘The adventure is scheduled to begin for us in December 2023’.
The project involves the development of a training program based on outdoor learning methodologies.
‘From the vantage point of helping students prepare to enter the job market, this should be an engaging and appealing way to learn new skills in an unconventional way. Academic teachers should also benefit, as in the course of their training with expert partners, they will have the opportunity to become familiar with the theoretical and practical aspects of the outdoor learning model. Students on the other hand will be able to become more aware of their strengths/talents, soft skills, will build their self-esteem, and bolster their employability in today's job market’, dr inż. Anna Laska-Leśniewicz explained.
European Qualifications Framework
The European Commission's LifeComp, GreenComp, and DigComp competence frameworks, as well as other European frameworks for the recognition of skills acquired during the program will be applied in the project.
LifeComp describes competencies pertaining to personal qualities (self-regulation, flexibility, pursuit of life satisfaction), the social area (empathy, communication, and cooperation) and the learning area (growth mindset, critical thinking, learning how to learn). GreenComp includes more than a dozen competencies linked to sustainable development. Finally, DigComp deals with the development of digital competence and covers areas such as information and data, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, security, problem solving.
Dr inż. Anna Laska-Leśniewicz further explained: ‘The MOOC-OUT-DOOR From University to Work training program designed in the project is organized into 6 modules to be delivered in a blended mode: - through a web-based platform, and through workshops and field training’.