Design thinking - a chance for innovation in higher education institutions

Design thinking as a way of reasoning is becoming more and more popular nowadays. Originated in business and transferred to other areas, it is now being implemented even in education and science. With its four or five steps in the whole process, interdisciplinary teams can solve every problem and find a solution which meets the needs and expectations of the end-users. This approach has also been successfully implemented in higher education institutions and it is through that HEIs are becoming more open and efficient in their cooperation with business, public administration, NGOs and other stakeholders.

Teamwork in a large student group as an element of shaping competence. Good practices

Teamwork in a large student group as an element of shaping competence. Good practices The competences of many job candidates differ largely from the needs of employers in the labor market-a reality which is currently a significant problem also in Poland. Soft skills, as they are dubbed, are essential for effective interaction and communication in interpersonal relationships and are considered competences of the future. In shaping them the participation of academic teachers plays a special role. The author, being a practitioner, noticed the permanence of the problem in the area of shaping students’ skills in communication and teamwork. During more than a decade of work with students at state and private universities, first-cycle and second-cycle studies, full-time and part-time, the author has developed a comprehensive approach to teamwork guidelines in classes, in a large group (approximately 30 people) within the sphere of interpersonal communication. It worked well in the journalism and media logistics classes supervised by the author. This approach that can be described as good practices has a twofold value: advantage for students when used in university classes and usefulness in work as these competences are valued by the employers. The development of important tenets of team work in a practical group in the context of social competences is presented in tables and indicating typical problems – also in particular time perspectives: at the stage of preparing for classes, in the course of the first and subsequent classes (with the separation of the last ones). It can be 60 Izabela M. Bogdanowicz used as a framework guide, enabling interested academic teachers to prepare their own materials conducive to shaping the competencies desired on the labor market.

The article describes features in the developing of foreign language communicative competence by using interactive teaching methods. The directions of developing the students’ foreign language communicative competence are determined. Experimentation on skills in the development of this competence was carried out on the basis of interaction between participants. A comparative analysis of the results in experimental and control groups is proposed. The scientific novelty of the article is that it describes the effectiveness of the experience of using cooperation technology and the online platform Technology Entertainment Design in the developing of foreign language communicative competence of students.

Young people are increasingly engaging in contacts via social media. Although this activity is primarily a form of entertainment, students also treat social media as a learning-supporting tool. The aim of the studies presented in this paper was to determine whether using Facebook as an e-learning platform brings satisfying academic performance. Additionally, the application of the gamification feature was examined. Two quasi-experiments were conducted in which some of the subjects took part in traditional classes, while others participated in asynchronous classes conducted on social media. The results of the first experiment demonstrated that a Facebook-run e-learning course contributed to higher grades, while the second experiment showed the opposite effect. Gamification had a neutral or negative impact on the grades. The results are discussed in the context of differences between the designs of the two Facebook courses. The paper makes suggestions for future SNS-based or SNS-assisted classes. It is proposed to use informational feedback instead of a controlling one. Additionally, the use of team work is encouraged. The discussion includes a reflection on students’ autonomy.