ERASMUS Research Articles

Beyond borders: analysis of the students' mobility flows at Sapienza University of Rome

The promotion of mobility among academic staff and students is one of the main objectives of the Bologna Process, a mechanism that has been defined by the European Commission aimed to promote intergovernmental cooperation between the European countries in the field of the higher education. In this respect, according to the last Erasmus+ Annual Report (2019), almost 10 million people took part in the Erasmus program during the last three decades and the increase of this phenomenon has been recorded in all of the European countries. As far as Italy is concerned, in 2018 (year of last available data), 76,847 participants in 1,055 Italian projects benefited from mobility in higher education, vocational education and training, school education, adult learning and youth for a total grant amount of €147.83 million. Going into detail, the number of incoming students and trainees increased by 45.8% from the 2010/2011 academic year to the 2017/2018 academic year while the number of outgoing students and trainees increased by 75.6%. Starting from this consideration, the purpose of the study was to analyze data regarding mobility flows (both incoming and outgoing) during the last academic year (2018/2019) at Sapienza University of Rome, which, together with Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna and the University of Padua, is one of the top three Italian universities with the highest rate of incoming foreign students. Data will be analyzed through the use of profile analysis whose aim is to compare the same dependent variable (i.e., the opportunity for a mobility period abroad) between two different groups of incoming and outgoing students taking into account both demographic variables (i.e., gender, student age at the beginning of the experience, countries of the original and destination institutions) and variables of the academic career (i.e., exam grades and credits obtained).

Erasmus students as consumers of tourism services in Poland

Tourism is one of the main factors that encourage students to participate in the Erasmus programme, and many Erasmus students are eager to travel while studying abroad. The article highlights an important segment of the Polish tourism market, namely foreign students enrolled in the Erasmus programme. The article aims to identify opportunities for the tourism industry associated with Erasmus students in Poland, taking into account experiences of other countries. The study is based on empirical data obtained from the Polish Tourism Organization and from Erasmus Family in Cordoba, a Spanish travel agency for the period 2015-2018. In addition, the author conducted a literature review, analysed relevant documents, and relied on her own observations. The growing socio-economic benefits of the Erasmus programme for countries participating in the programme stimulate competition between them in an attempt to attract more international students, where success of particular host countries and their educational institutions depends on a number of factors, including those associated with tourism. Significant competitive advantages can be achieved in this respect by combining the efforts of educational institutions and those responsible for tourism policy.

The EU Erasmus+ Programme During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The article critically reflects upon various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the EU funded Erasmus+ academic cooperation programme. A complete or partial shutdown of academic mobility, imposition of quarantine, and forced introduction of digital teaching and learning technologies have become the most prominent consequences of the pandemic for the European universities. Numerous surveys among students, teachers and experts in higher education have shown many vulnerabilities of the Erasmus programme requiring improvement. Responding to the COVID-19 challenges, the EU and university community are updating the Erasmus programme for the period 2021‒2027, in order to strengthen it as a tool to promote European values and increase its resilience to withstand external threats.

Liver Transplantation in Malaysia: Needs, Obstacles, and Opportunities.

Liver Transplantation in Malaysia: Needs, Obstacles, and Opportunities.

Diagnosis of competencies in the meetings industry in Poland, Hungary and Ireland in post-COVID-19 period

The freezing of economies due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused damage not only on the sales side but also on the labor market due to the outflow of staff from companies specializing in the organization of meetings. The return of the meetings industry sector to the development path will involve skillful change management, including in the area of competencies and skills. To inventory and assess the competencies of employees in the meetings industry, this study was carried out among specialized enterprises in the meetings industry in Poland, Hungary, and Ireland, on samples of two research groups, i.e. the Director General (CEO) and operational employees based on questionnaires and individual in-depth interviews (IDI). The obtained results allowed to establish the hierarchy of self-assessment of own managerial competencies, assessment of the competencies of the CEO by the employees, areas of increasing team competencies, and areas of staff development in the sector shortly, contributing to the recovery from the pandemic crisis. Raising the competencies and qualifications of employees is perceived as one of the most powerful tools for overcoming the pandemic crisis, obtaining 68% positive indications among CEOs in Poland, 77% indications in Hungary, and 84% in Ireland. In all analyzed countries, the meetings industry is indicated as a strategic product of the tourist market. Among the planned long-term actions aimed at overcoming the pandemic crisis, increasing employee competencies is perceived as an opportunity for the companies operating the meetings industry sector (90% in Poland, and 80% in Hungary and Ireland). AcknowledgmentThis study was done in frames of the project “Vocational competences in MICE sector” co-financed in frames of European Union program Erasmus + as part of the program The Dialog for Transformation, Erasmus+, 2020–2021.

Inclusive universities: evidence from the Erasmus program

The Erasmus Program is the main international mobility program in Europe and worldwide. Since its launch in 1987, it has been growing both in terms of participants and budget devoted to its activities. However, despite the possibility to obtain additional funding, the participation of students with special needs in the program remains extremely low. This work quantifies the participation of these students to Erasmus and explores the network of universities involved in their mobility, along the period 2008–2013. In addition, it proposes a novel index to measure the level of inclusiveness of universities welcoming international students with disabilities. Quantifying and analyzing this aspect could be the basis for better designing targeted policies and for widening the participation of students with impairments to international mobility.

FORMATION OF THE GLOBAL MARKET OF HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES: COMPETITION OR COOPERATION

This paper presents an analysis of issues of contemporary processes related to global higher education dynamics. The paper is based on the analysis of research results of well-known researchers of global higher education reality, as well as on the author’s own research results within the Erasmus program. It states that new aspects of the mission of a university as an institution were added to such aspects as research, teaching and service, in accordance with social requirements. It also reveals that the concept of the world-class research university of the XXI century of Prof. P. Altbach and the model of the entrepreneurial university of Prof. B. Clark, which work in the conditions of growing competition between higher education, represent a new world higher education reality in the early XXI century. The paper reveals that the global market of higher education services has been established as an instrument of higher education changes. In this context, the traditional providers of educational services and the “new providers” compete for or complement the supply. The paper shows that the traditional providers of educational services are public and private universities. It emphasizes that University has become only one of the actors in the new “knowledge business” nowadays and discusses that recently we have witnessed the emergence of new types of higher education providers. The paper considers the emergence of new providers of higher education as indicators of the direction of higher education dynamics in the immediate future. These “new providers” include corporate universities, virtual universities and online courses, a certification system of competence in computer technology, commercial IT and media companies, networks of professional associations, national or international research networks, international conglomerates and consortia, and publishers, who are designing and delivering course materials, sometimes in partnership with universities. It is highlighted that to operate and develop in current higher education dynamics, universities should simultaneously compete, positioning themselves, and cooperate, overcoming obstacles by joint efforts with partners.
 Keywords: higher education; higher education dynamics; market of higher education services; internationalization; World-class research university; entrepreneurial university; corporate university; virtual university; mixed mode training called Hybrid; providers of educational services.

Leadership Skills Training for Teachers as Leaders: The Research Report on the Erasmus+ CBHE Project. Development of Skills and Teachers Training for Leadership/DeSTT

The DeSTT concept of teacher training for leadership examines the importance of non-formal education, i.e., training for teachers. The monitoring study revealed the urgent needs of Kazakhstani teachers in training their leadership skills. The paper analyzes two sets of research questions (each consists of 6 sub-questions), which we defined as follows: 1) What are the challenges of teacher training/upskilling for leadership and their involvement in the local community? This group of questions was studied at the stage of preparing the project proposal. 2) What are the impacts of DeSTT training on teachers' leadership skills and experiences? This group of questions was studied during the 2nd year of the project lifetime. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the findings and implementation of the concept of preparing teachers for leadership from the project proposal launch to the execution of pilot trainings. Research methods employed in the study are interviews of universities specialists and analyzes of the State data/reports for the project proposal. Observations of training participants and post-training interviews were used to study the 2nd group of research questions. The findings of the study confirm the data obtained in both groups of interviews and observations. Participants were enthusiastic and interested in the pieces of training, aware and confident of the need to continue learning, share experiences, and develop leadership skills achieved in DeSTT training. The reflection on the central terms of leadership and training has proved to be crucial for teachers. Further research is to survey the implications of the DeSTT project for all its consumers. The dissemination and sustainability perspective of the project is to collaborate with the National Center ORLEU for training leadership skills to the instructors from 17 regional branches who, in turn, will train teachers for leadership.
 The authors acknowledge the Erasmus Plus CBHE for funding the DeSTT project.

The Erasmus program and its effect to the labour market

In our work, we deal with the question of what impact the Erasmus programme has on linguistic and personal competences and how it helps the economy forward. We look around this topic in the literature review. We managed to get almost 100 surveys filled out among the participants however, the representatives of the companies proved to be quite passive, with only nearly 30 of them replying. In the form of a survey, we found that it has a positive effect on improving language skills and helping with independence or problem-solving ability. In the quantitative survey we found that companies often prefer other factors than the people in a mobility programme, and they do not show favour toward a mobility student in a job interview, although the skills acquired during the programme help the individual. Therefore though indirectly, but the programme has a positive impact on the economy as well.

Polish Perspective on the Reflective Judgement Level Amongst Students of the Erasmus Programme

Polish Perspective on the Reflective Judgement Level Amongst Students of the Erasmus Programme

A lesson design of the subject of local cuisine as a course unit in language teaching

Aim. In Turkey, German ranks second after English as a foreign language in private courses, schools, and universities. There is an important relation between the selection of the subject of German courses, i.e., the detailed planning of the courses, and the implementation of the appropriate method. In this research, the subject of cuisine was planned for teaching German at universities. The purpose of this research is the preparation, implementation and evaluation of a sample lesson focused on the selection of the subject of cuisine for German courses taught in the universities. Methods. This research on cuisine was qualitative in nature. The document analysis technique was used in the research (Kuş, 2007; Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2008). During the 2018/2019 academic year the researcher taught on the subject of cuisine selection in his German courses. The implementation and evaluation of the subject of cuisine are developed by Hasan Coşkun (2020) in accordance with the lesson planning model previously prepared. The materials used in this lesson are prepared according to the model developed by Coşkun (2020). The unit on cuisine has been revised for this article. Result and Conclusion. The success of the lesson planning model mentioned in this article was also observed in the activities conducted earlier. It was also seen that the students who attended German courses in connection with education or work in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland exerted efforts in establishing contact with the instructor and with other students attending the class. It was observed that participants talked about the Turkish, German, and Chinese cuisine in their families, peer groups, restaurants, and snack bars. In addition to the subject discussed in the class, the method implemented in the lesson and the planning of the course according to the method, play an important role in the continuation of the students’ interest. Therefore, effective lesson planning models should be developed. This lesson model is also applicable to other languages. Originality. German is offered as a foreign language in Turkish schools in the second grade. Consequently, German is usually chosen as a second foreign language after English. Students from all the departments of the university may attend the elective German language classes to study or work in Germany. The condition for participation in the courses “German for Erasmus” and “German for Communication,” taught by the researcher, aims to prepare the students to read and speak German at the A2 level. It is frequently observed that the participants speak German at different levels. The overseas experience of the participants, the level of their German and their knowledge of other languages play an important role in this respect. In recent years, the number of course participants from Germany and other countries have increased. The students who had been in German speaking countries within the Erasmus program participate in German courses to maintain their fluency in the German language. To conduct the courses effectively, a suitable method should be developed and such an approach will help the participants who come from different countries and students with different levels of fluency. It is believed that this inter-disciplinary research will contribute to the use of the active method during German lessons.

ESP STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION BEFORE AND AFTER CROATIA JOINED THE ERASMUS PROGRAM

Results of our research study conducted before Croatia joined the Erasmus program in 2010 suggested that the experience of internationalization might affect ESP students’ attitudes, learning priorities and motivation. To establish whether generations that participated in academic mobility programs differ from their pre-Erasmus peers, we repeated our original study from 2009: Business and economics students’ attitudes to English, L2 motivation and invested effort were measured using the same questionnaire based on sociolinguistic and L2 motivation research rooted in social psychology. The same attitudes and motivation scales were used to compare the two groups. To ensure comparability, the data from the original and the present study were submitted to Coarsened Exact matching, which resulted in two subsets (N=98 each). T-test and correlational analyses revealed significant differences between the two groups, but the findings somewhat disappointed our previous expectations regarding the impact of university internationalization.

Cross-border Education: Students Exchange Programme Participants’ Perspective on ERASMUS

Modern educational landscape has been undergoing drastic changes due to the processes of internationalization and transnationalization. Internationalization in higher education is manifold, student academic mobility being one of its manifestations. It is often associated with ERASMUS, the programme that has been implemented in European higher education for almost 30 years. It provides short-term student exchange programmes and involves EU member states as well as other European countries, including Russia. The effect of ERASMUS on higher education of EU countries has been thoroughly studied, while its Russian segment remains a white spot. This article reports on the study done among Russian students who participated in ERASMUS students exchange programmes in 2018–2020 as well as the Russian students educated along with their international colleagues in a home university. The employment of qualitative methods revealed that Russian participants of ERASMUS exchange programmes find them very effective. The most significant benefits include the development of cross-cultural competence as well as professional skills and personal growth. Students working with international participants of ERASMUS programme in a home university were very positive about the experience. Such communication makes the classes interesting, helps Russian students develop understanding of cultural issues, increases their motivation and gives impetus to self-development.

Erasmus Programına Katılan Türk Öğrencilerin Deneyimlerinden Hareketle Ortaya Çıkan Zorlukların ve Çelişkilerin Nitel Bir Analizi

Internationalization agenda, especially the Erasmus framework, has become a significant process affecting the Turkish higher education. Erasmus, as being the most influential and preferred mobility scheme, has attracted significant attention and witnessed increasing number of students in years. There are various studies on the outcomes of the Erasmus program in terms of social, cultural, and academic gains of students as well as associated challenges and influence of the Bologna Process on the Turkish higher education outlook. However, there are less visited concepts in terms of challenges that need further attention. This paper addresses these less visited subjects such as project management/implementation issues (diversity, funding, and outcomes), politics of difference, and consumerist approaches. The findings suggest that these issues may complicate program implementations and run the risk of hindering general program targets, leading to a paradoxical outlook such a becoming exclusive to certain group of students, emphasizing difference rather than mutual understanding, seeing the experience as a to-do list item. So, the tension between various issues such as consumerist approaches, politics of difference and project implementation issues and general program targets and outcomes must be acknowledged towards emphasizing the critical role of appropriate student advising and expectation management as well as development of flexible and diverse evaluation-placement methods for efficient and positive program implementation.

Exploring the antecedents and outcomes of destination brand love

PurposeThis study aims to apply the concept of brand love to a destination and investigate its antecedents and consequences. It also explores the moderating effects of time elapsed since the establishment of the destination brand love relationship on the outcomes of destination brand love.Design/methodology/approachA total of 5,511 valid responses were obtained from an online survey distributed among former international students from the Erasmus program of the European Union. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was conducted to assess the hypotheses.FindingsDestination brand love was found to have a significant impact on electronic word of mouth (eWOM), WOM, WOM intensity, recommendation and revisit intention. Moderation analysis revealed that the amount of time elapsed since the establishment of the destination brand love relationship did not affect these outcomes. Moreover, destination image and the Erasmus experience had a positive effect on destination brand love.Practical implicationsDestination marketers should focus on enhancing the Erasmus experience and on improving destination image perception, as these factors help develop destination brand love. Marketers should also be aware that this relationship has long-lasting effects.Originality/valueThis study adds to the sparse literature on brand love in relation to a destination. This gives the first results for the importance of Erasmus students to the promotion of a host country. It also contributes to the question of how long the brand love relationship can last.

The opportunities and challenges of working with the development of the ellipse-project before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemics has influenced many research and educational projects, and it influenced also ELLIPSE-project, aiming at the creation of a free online curriculum in suicide prevention for students in the higher education in Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Norway and Poland (September 2019-August 2022). The ELLIPSE (E-Lifelong Learning In Prevention of Suicide in Europe) (www.e-llipse.com) is the first international project in the area of education in suicide prevention in the higher education co-founded by the European Union Erasmus+ programme. We will reflect on some opportunities and challenges due to COVID-19 pandemics. Identified opportunities: 1) learning a new way of communicating, 2) reaching more participants (in case of Sweden we were able to get participants from more regions, 3) more frequent meetings heightening the quality of the project, 4) travelling less (online is the more eco-friendly solution). But there were also some challenges: 1) not be able to proceed according to the preliminary plan generated much more administrative work, 2) online meetings was a challenge for those partners who had problems adjusting to the online form of communication, 3) more negative attitudes to the canal of communication resulted in avoiding it, leading to less frequent interactions what resulted in diminished motivation to the project, and being unable to proceed with project tasks, 4) resignation of some patients from participation because of difficulties in accepting the online form of communication. We will discuss these issues in a more detailed way during the interactive workshop.DisclosureThe E-Lifelong Learning In Prevention of Suicide In Europe (ELLIPSE)-project is co-funded by the European Union’s Programme Erasmus+ (Project ID: 2019-1-SE01-KA203-060571). The EU Commission’s support for this project does not mean that the Commission end

Why is it important to involve people with lived experience in the development of the educational programs in suicide prevention?

Blekinge Family Postvention is a grief facilitator-home-visiting postvention giving early support to families after a suicidal loss since 2015. It helps families overcome shock, pain, anger, guilt, suffering and other extreme emotions caused by suicide. Such situations should be treated not as a disorder. Medication should be used only as a last resort to treat individuals not responding to early family support, followed by individual sessions if needed. Everyone needs to express feelings and thoughts on all aspects of the suddenly interrupted relation. To achieve this, a person experienced in those issues must be leading all of the meetings. The conversations should start during the first days, frequently continuing for at least 3-5 weeks depending on the family needs. Helping the family bear each other and find coping strategies ease their pain, mourning and give them hope instead of prolonged grief. In this way, the family gradually finds new ways to overcome a never-ending negative looping that eventually can cause, e.g. post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The support to the family after suicide loss should be a governmental matter. Today all work is done voluntarily. The close relatives need debriefing right after the district doctor has stated the death or the police informed the family about suicide. The military, the police, rescue services and healthcare professionals gets debriefing when a rescue operation has failed. This presentation discusses how to organise early family support and the Ellipse project’s interviews with survivors about their experiences of needed or received support if any.DisclosureDISCLAIMER The E-Lifelong Learning In Prevention of Suicide In Europe (ELLIPSE)-project is co-funded by the European Union’s Programme Erasmus+ (Project ID: 2019-1-SE01-KA203-060571). The EU Commission’s support for this project does not mean that the Com

Preface

The 2st International Conference on Innovation Energy (IE-2020) was held on December 17-18, 2020 at Perm National Research Polytechnic University (Perm, Russia) using distance information technologies.The sections work was carried out on the online conferencing platform: https://bigbluebutton.pstu.ru.The Conference was organized by PNRPU and was carried out in the framework of international cooperation and also supported by educational and research grant WP 2.6.6 573879-EPP-1-2016-1-FR-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP by European program Erasmus + (the Project Internationalization of master Programs In Russia and China in Electrical engineering / INSPIRE) with the participation of leading universities in France, Germany, Russia and China.This conference has been held for more than 11 years. Traditionally conference is distinguished by its high representativeness and aroused great interest among the scientific and technical community of our country, neighboring countries and western electrical engineering companies. Approximate number of participants is about 80-100 scientists and industry professionals working in the field of electrical engineering, power energy, IT and their applications in electrical engineering, energy conversion and energy saving systems.List of Program of XI International Conference on Innovation Energy (IE-2020), Working session of the Conference and photos are available in the pdf.

Peer learning: Mentoring in a Portuguese as a foreign language course

Mentoring is valued in foreign language learning, as it is based on the recognition of the benefits of the interaction between peers. This paper aims at presenting the results of a mentorship experience thought for a Portuguese as a Foreign Language course in higher education, in 2017/18. The mentees are Erasmus students attending these courses. This initiative was developed through the preparation of mentors, structured sessions of interaction between mentors and mentees, a reflection upon the experienced process and the administration of questionnaires to the participants. Data were collected through direct observation, following a naturalist observation protocol. There was a content analysis of the answers for open questions and a statistical analysis of all answers. Results suggest the existence of positive effects of the mentoring program, such as the individual, social and linguistic development of the mentors, the mentees’ integration and learning of Portuguese and the interpersonal relationship in both groups. / Keywords: mentoring, Portuguese as foreign language, Erasmus program

Statistical Properties of Legal Texts and their use in Legal Information Retrieval Systems

The article is devoted to issues related to the use of statistical properties of legal texts for searching legal information. Methods are presented that allow to enlarge the set of found documents by including those semantically close to the initially found ones. Providing the ability to search for such collections of documents allows to better satisfy the needs of the system users. The article presents the theoretical foundations of enlargement operations based on performing specific treatments in the so-called semantic space of terms and semantic space of documents. The article deals particularly with the methods which allow to determine the set of similar documents by using statistical properties of documents. The research carried out under the ERASMUS program conducted by K. van Noortwijk and R. V. de Mulder is presented in detail. A critical analysis of the measures used in this research was carried out, as well as an analysis of the reasons why the proposed methods didn’t lead to fully satisfactory results.