In this article, we try to answer a few critical questions: Why is developing the competences of learners so important and why should teaching, learning and assessment be grounded in a competence-based approach? How was such a curriculum based on transversal competences implemented at the West University of Timisoara (Romania)? In a dynamic and problem-based society, education systems focus more and more on helping learners develop a wide variety of competences to cope with our complex world. On a European level, different frameworks of competences were established which are meant to be developed in higher education. In relation to these competences, specialists invoke transversal competences, skills for life, such as: critical thinking, creativity, taking the initiative, problem solving, risk assessment, decision taking, constructive emotional management, cooperation and/or working in a team. From the 2014-2015 academic year onwards, the West University of Timisoara has implemented a system which allows students to choose three subjects from different specializations in order to develop transversal competences. In this paper, we analyze the way of implementation, elements of the course syllabus correlated with transversal competences and the skills developed through those subjects since its inception.
Teachers’ job satisfaction has been the subject of many studies that tried to identify its main sources. Based on the social cognitive career theory, the present study aimed to investigate the relationships between personality traits, goals orientation, and teachers’ job satisfaction. A total of 321 Romanian teachers completed an online questionnaire. The results demonstrated new insights regarding the relationships between psychological variables (conscientiousness, dispositional resistance to change, and achievement goals orientation) and teachers’ job satisfaction. Cognitive rigidity, as a mechanism to resistance to change, mediates between conscientiousness and teachers’ job satisfaction. Moreover, the moderation role of learning goals orientation manifests in the relation between conscientiousness and job satisfaction. These findings emphasize that school management needs to offer teachers information and explain the change’s benefits if they want to prevent individual resistance to change and decrease satisfaction related to their work.
This research was conducted as a collaborative project between the West University of Timișoara (Romania) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway) to develop a transnational learning activity. The students learned in virtual collaborative study groups; developed project-based teams; shared experiences, skills, and professional competencies; and collaborated directly with their teachers, the researchers, and the labor force. Three virtual learning groups of undergraduate students (N = 131), presenting comparable course descriptors and disciplinary group compositions, participated in the study. This study aimed to determine the effects of disciplinary composition on virtual learning group process dynamics from the students’ perspectives. This study applied a quasi-experimental between-subjects study design: quantitative methods were used to validate a research instrument and to determine statistical differences in the group process dynamic between the three groups; a qualitative method was applied to identify an in-depth understanding of the students’ perception about the group learning experience. By analyzing the group dynamics in the three settings—mono-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and cross-cultural—the research results show the advantages of each virtual learning composition in the group dynamic and learning outcomes in terms of group skill acquisitions. The conclusions can help teachers design virtual team compositions, a crucial stage in ensuring the achievement of desired learning outcomes.
The heavy dependence on online education during the COVID-19 pandemic has long-term consequences for teaching and learning. The problem statement of the present study is to identify, from a student-centered perspective, solutions for a teaching approach in the virtual environment to increase student involvement and stimulate active relevant learning. The research objectives are to describe the team dynamics in Project-Based Virtual Learning (PBVL) and to identify the advantages and disadvantages of learning in PBVL, from the students’ perspective. At three separate intervals, 102 undergraduate students enrolled in three different courses wrote down reflections of their experience with PBVL in an online self-administrated reflective journal. Following a data-driven systematic qualitative content analysis of the students’ learning journals, four main themes emerged regarding the learning experience in virtual teams: collaboration, communication, trust, and learning. Based on the results, a three-stage framework for PBVL team dynamics was proposed: Teambuilding–Teamwork–Team performance (TTT) framework. The results show that PBVL favors the development of professional, learning, and personal skills through collaboration.
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