On April 22, 2024, a webinar titled "Estonian Experience in Syllabus Development," led by Anu Leuska from the University of Tartu, provided an in-depth look at the challenges of creating curricula specifically tailored to the needs of educators and social workers. The main focus was on developing an elective course called "Introduction to Crisis Intervention." Anu Leuska's presentation highlighted the complex processes involved in structuring and filling these courses to ensure proper training for educators working with children in crises (grief, threats, behaviour issues, suicidal tendencies) in educational settings.
A key point was the identification of a standardized process for syllabus development, which consisted of five main steps:
- Conceptualizing the course and evaluating its current relevance.
- Engaging in discussions with program guarantors.
- Defining clear goals, objectives, and a brief course description.
- Encoding the course for smooth integration into the Moodle platform.
- Ensuring thorough preparation of syllabi and learning materials for Moodle.
The webinar brought together participants from all partner universities, fostering multifaceted discussions on effective communication strategies within the courses and finding the optimal balance between in-person and online learning formats over the 16-week course duration. Participants also addressed issues related to formulating course assignments, including the integration of case studies and assessment methods, as well as using various integrated tools to enhance learning outcomes.
Special emphasis was placed on the course designed for teachers and social workers, focusing on crisis management related to children. The assessment for this course was structured in such a way that seminars (75%) were much more significant than independent work (25%). Additional topics discussed included tracking student engagement with the course, using assignment analytics to monitor learning progress, quantitatively assessing communication effectiveness, and providing comprehensive course reviews.
More information about the project https://burn.kdpu.edu.ua/.