Training in Embodied Critical Understanding

Training in Embodied Critical Understanding

Objectives
Training of Embodied Critical Understanding (TECU) strives to foster critical, motivated engagement and the skill of fruitful debate by 3 yearlong trainings for students/researchers in which 7 universities cooperate. TECU is a European innovation of educators/researchers responding to a threefold crisis: breakthroughs of AI (chatGPT) impacting student engagement; social media echo-chambers/polarisation endangering democratic dialogue; climate change-stuckness impacting students mental health.

Activities
TECU provides free 3 yearlong trainings for students/researchers. It includes a series of 12 weekly webinars/year, a summer school/year, and a mentoring phase for an independent project with which students will earn 15 ECT. TECU will be accompanied by a research pilot-study that measures the impact of the program on the trainees with standardised quantitative and also qualitative research measures. Students from 7 universities are eligible to travel/accomodation-grants for three summer schools.

Impact
TECU develops a growing number of alumni implementing methods enhancing skills of critical understanding and fruitful debate within their institutions and research communities. The consortium aims at establishing a TECU academy, to complement the emphasis on digital literacy in the context of HE with the skill of embodied critical thinking/understanding. Several publications (a book series, special issues of two journals etc) will reflect and discuss the research outcomes of the TECU approach.

The Partners:

HASKOLI ISLANDS, Iceland - Coordinator

AARHUS UNIVERSITET, Denmark
RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN, Netherlands
TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Israel
UNIVERSITAET BIELEFELD, Germany
UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI, Slovenia