About Quality of Education in an international group
The International Congress on Education Quality has come to an end. It was filled with meetings, debates and workshops on educational challenges, mobility, internationalization and improvement of education methods and systems.
On Thursday, the Silesian Museum hosted a ceremonial inauguration of the congress, attended by representatives of the authorities of many universities, not only from the region, and guests from abroad. The event was accompanied by a debate on the importance of internationalization, mobility of students and staff, and the differences between European and American universities were highlighted.
“Mobility directly affects the quality of education, our students have the opportunity to learn about the laboratories and conditions in which education is conducted in foreign universities, bring certain solutions and share them. On the other hand, foreign students somehow force us to constantly improve the quality of education, because we want to present ourselves from the best side” - said Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Zbigniew Paszenda, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Investment at the Silesian University of Technology. “The mobility of workers promotes research in international teams, and their results directly affect the quality of education”.
Prof. Paszenda also emphasized that the Silesian University of Technology focuses on individualization of education, allows students to shape the educational path through the selection of appropriate subjects. In turn, Prof Beata Orlińska, Director of the College of Studies at the Silesian University of Technology, drew attention to the implemented innovative methods of education, such as Project Based Learning (PBL).
– “The Silesian University of Technology is a leader in implementing methods such as PBL, we could present our achievements, the number of projects, we discussed our solutions during this congress, about the importance of involving students in research works” – said professor Orlińska. – “We also talk about establishing cooperation between academic teachers and secondary schools, we engage in it, among others, through the implementation of PBL projects with pupils of these schools”.
PBL projects are often research projects that result in patent applications or scientific publications. Students perform at conferences where they have the opportunity to talk about the results obtained, thanks to which they develop their skills in presenting research works. During the congress, Silesian University of Technology organized a panel on education based on conducting scientific research, in which the needs and expectations of students, the role of scientists in taking care of a research project or the benefits of education based on conducting scientific research were discussed.
