COPY BUT NOT PASTE

Abstract

More and more universities in the Netherlands and abroad are offering their curricula in different countries. In England, for instance, more students are earning a British degree outside the United Kingdom than there are exchange students. The core of this partnership is that a curriculum created by an institution is copied, adapted and implemented in a different context with the goal of offering students an equivalent learning environment. Some partnerships fail This dissertation examines what these partnerships offer students, staff and the education system. Are students actually receiving an equivalent education? Creating a similar learning environment is challenging due to inevitable differences in terms of resources, teaching styles and the students' learning strategies. Work placement positions in a hospital setting make medical curricula particularly challenging. This dissertation identifies the educational challenges, specifically in the medical domain. The result is a guideline that can help partners deal with the tension between standardisation of curricula on the one hand and the necessary and inevitable modifications in the partner context on the other. As a result, this dissertation contributes to the debate on whether this form of internationalisation is desired and how partnerships can be organised.