LIBRI DI MONICA FEDELI

The current era of globalization, international programs, and international student mobility has resulted in a changing demographic in classrooms across Italian universities. While we know that international students come to universities with various cultural, linguistic, and academic backgrounds, this diversity in the student population poses benefits and challenges for instruction as faculty seek to provide effective teaching in their classrooms. As well, university instructors participate within a variety of communities of practice that may (or may not) help them to prepare to teach diverse populations of students. The current study, a component of a larger research project funded by the U.S. - Italian Fulbright Commission, investigated the professional development topics and formats in which university instructors at the Università degli Studi di Padova engage to teach such diverse student populations. This research assists in identifying models, content, and contextual factors of informal and formal faculty development currently in Italy. The findings offer culturally nuanced insights for instructor professional development during a period of internationalization efforts and increased international student mobility.

The paper describes an experience of use of the Padlet application within an Italian course held in English within a master’s degree course. The contribution begins with a reflection on the proposal of collaborative strategies to engage students in the learning process and on EMI - English as a Medium of Instruction to support the internationalization processes of European universities. The paper continues with the description of the design process of collaborative activities with Padlet, in order to support the learning process of the disciplinary contents provided in English and to encourage interaction between attending and not attending students.

This article looks at theories and practices related to faculty development and innovation in teaching and learning methods in Higher Education, in order to respond to the European 2020 Strategy, in which the High level group on the modernisation of higher education has been established, whose aim focuses on improving the quality of teaching and learning in Europe’s higher education institutions (2013). The paper is framed within the context of the project PRODID (Preparazione alla professionalità docente e innovazione didattica), funded by the University of Padova, Italy with the major goal of creating a permanent and effective academic center for research on learning and teaching and faculty development. The theoretical framework of PRODID is informed by constructivism and social constructivism, and the student centered approach, encouraging student-teacher partnerships as a dimension for faculty development and teaching and learning innovations. The University of Helsinki and Michigan State University are mentioned as relevant examples of organizational settings integrated in higher education institutions that offer a great variety of practices consistent with the chosen theoretical framework. They also offer the Italian program of University of Padova models for critical reflection in how their teaching strategies can be created and developed on the basis of this international experience. The final discussion aims to highlight the strategies adopted during the first year of the project, characterized by the Italian culture and revealing new insights and ideas to create an Italian model of teaching and learning center.

The present paper aims to describe the first phase (12 months) of an Italian research unit, which is part of a more extensive three year project that endeavored to: design innovative programs for higher education, to promote personalized learning, to build on job competencies, to value talents, to create new work opportunities, and to provide positive strategies in higher education to support young adults during their employment emergency as a response to the socio-economic crisis and as a citizenship action. In response, a consortium of universities and researchers, called Emp&Co (Employability and Competences) was created. The project involves six Italian Universities (Padova, Firenze, Siena, Napoli, Molise, Roma Sapienza), and Dr. Monica Fedeli from the University of Padova is the Principal Investigator. Dr. Fedeli’s research group is focusing on the innovation of teaching and learning methods and promotion of personalized programs in order to modernize university didactics, to encourage the university-business dialogue, and to promote employability. In the first phase of the project, a literature review was conducted and an analysis of student evaluation questionnaires on didactics, from 8 Italian, 3 American, 5 European, 1 Canadian, and 1 African University was completed to compare and learn from the different ways in which courses are evaluated by students in the different academic contexts. The goal at the end of the first year is the creation of a questionnaire template focused on teaching and learning methods, in order to gain a better understanding of student perspectives in our country. Additionally, we hope to implement strategies that will improve university didactics as requested by all European Union declarations. This paper introduces the overall study and the foregrounding work done with Dr. Joellen Coryell from Texas State University in the United States, who is a consultant to the University of Padova in the areas of adult and higher education teaching and learning.

This paper illustrates students’ reflections on the experience of implementing Malcolm Knowles’s 1986 model of learning contracts in an online discussion forum. The study was an attempt to improve and adapt the tool to a master’s degree course at the University of Padua. Based on this qualitative inquiry three major themes come to light in our analysis : (a) Learning Contract and the learning process, (b) Characteristics of Learning Contracts and (c) Dynamics of collaboration. The findings encouraged our reflection on how to improve the contract and better involve the students in their learning process of becoming more self-directed. Finally, we can affirm that the Learning Contract can be considered an appropriate tool to elicit reflection for the learner and facilitator in higher education.

Il contribuito ripercorre alcune tappe dello sviluppo dell’apprendimento esperienziale, offrendo prima una riflessione sui diversi concetti di apprendimento e di esperienza e poi alcune interpretazioni teoriche in merito provenienti dal panorama Europeo e da quello americano dove l’autrice ha sviluppato da alcuni anni relazioni e collaborazioni. In altri termini si sottolinea il fatto che l’esperienza non vive isolata, ma ha bisogno di ancoraggi che ricerca e ritrova nel patrimonio esperienziale di ogni persona e di ogni organizzazione. A questo proposito si rilevano alcuni tratti dell’apprendimento esperienziale sviluppati da alcuni studiosi americani, ed in particolare la teorie di David Kolb che negli ultimi anni ha offerto al mondo scientifico una sistematizzazione della teoria esperienziale e una ulteriore attualizzazione. Nell’ultima parte si propone il caso della Provincia di Terni ed in particolare del Centro di Formazione della Provincia in cui tanta formazione viene proposta ed organizzata nei laboratori e in situazione reale. È proprio in questi ambienti che diventa necessario leggere i processi di apprendimento sviluppando consapevolezza e competenze attraverso l’esperienza. I formatori e gli educatori dovrebbero perciò dedicarsi a generare e costruire nuove ed efficaci contesti di apprendimento per i giovani.