On 1 September 2024 opens the call for internal projects to support innovation in key courses of Masaryk University study programmes. Projects that introduce and/or develop innovative methods of simulation, project-based and research-oriented teaching can be supported. Project proposals can be submitted by 23 October. More information on the call for projects can be found on the page “Internal support for teaching quality” of the MUNI Employee Portal.
The simulation-based teaching is based on the principles of experiential pedagogy and thus combines theory with practice and experiential learning. In simulation, learners acquire and deepen their knowledge and skills through reconstructions of real-life situations prepared based on special scenarios or rules. All of this takes place in a safe environment that also allows learners to repeat and analyse their practice in different situations continuously. Simulation training can, for example, use simulators or mannequins, or it can take place using augmented or virtual reality. Simulation games are also often used, in which learners enter a fictional situation and solve a complex problem that has a realistic core, or role-playing, in which a fictional situation with a realistic core is solved according to a pre-prepared scenario.
Project-based learning is a large-scale organized system of teacher and learner activities in which learner activities play a dominant role. It is based on the combination of practice (real-life situations) and theory (acquired knowledge) in a focused activity of learners who together or independently produce a specific output (product). Often these are multidisciplinary projects whose topics are real and important or useful to the learners.
In research-oriented learning, learners are put in the role of researchers and learn to work and think like them. Thus, learners do not just acquire existing scientific knowledge, but discover or create it themselves. The aim is not only to discover the answer to a research question, but also to learn to research, analyse, assess, present conclusions and process theoretical findings independently.