CoCreate
CoCreate - Student perspectives inform inclusive skill teaching in STEM education
Category: Incubator Grant
University:
University of Bordeaux, University of Göttingen, University of Groningen
Period:
2025-2027
The CoCreate project is an initiative of the ENLIGHT universities of Groningen (NL), Göttingen (DE), and Bordeaux (FR), with the University of Bristol (UK) as an associated partner. The project takes a student-centred approach to transforming STEM education by integrating a student perspective and co-designing resources. These resources aim to equip STEM teachers with inclusive and context-specific strategies for purposefully teaching transferable skills, thereby enhancing the employability of STEM graduates.
The first phase of CoCreate involves gathering STEM student perspectives through surveys conducted at all participating partner universities. The results will provide a comprehensive overview of students’ educational experiences and will be used in the next phase to inform the design of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) targeted at and co-creating with teachers. This e-learning course will adopt a flexible, modular design to enable efficient learning experiences tailored to the needs of the target group. It will offer practical examples from fellow teachers, insights into the perspectives of (their own) students, and optional features such as ready-to-use educational resources, portfolio certification, and blended follow-up activities. The MOOC content will focus on initiating interactive teaching strategies and fostering (intercultural) communication skills within educational design.
The next steps for the CoCreate project focus on further development, evaluation, and dissemination of the e-learning course within the ENLIGHT network. Following the initial pilot and evaluation with selected ENLIGHT partners, the project team plans to refine the MOOC based on feedback from teachers and educational developers, ensuring that the content remains relevant, flexible, and applicable across diverse STEM teaching contexts.
Personal Highlights:
"As teachers, we are accustomed to creating content based on ministerial guidelines or national curricula. However, this project takes a different approach by placing students’ needs at its centre, making it both unique and highly practical. Students are rarely given a voice in shaping the content they learn. This project offers teachers the opportunity to collaborate with students and create learning experiences that are designed with them and for them." Thierry Villard (University of Bordeaux):
"In a large modern university there is a tendency for the creation of ‘local’ or decentralised approaches to common issues, meaning that different approaches are taken in different schools and faculties. I believe that this project has the potential to bring together existing good practices from different sites in a purposeful way (the MOOC), producing a coherent approach, with experience being shared across institutions and schools. This means that all STEM students will benefit from similar teaching approaches, with a revised pedagogy aligned and disseminated in the Bristol context through the Bristol Institute for Teaching & Learning (BILT)." Kevin Haines (University of Bristol):
"What I value most about this project is that we fully commit to the co-creation approach. We invite different perspectives at all stages, gather experiences and feedback from students, teachers, and educational developers. As a team, we challenge our assumptions and are open to learning from one another. Ultimately, I believe that this diversity of voices will contribute to making this course a valuable resource for STEM teachers in ENLIGHT and beyond." Angelika Thielsch (University of Göttingen)
"I am very passionate in advocating for inclusive teaching and learning in STEM. This project is setting students first and aiming to let students talk about what is good and important for them. The MOOC which will be resulting from this project will bring these needs to teachers, but also equip educators with clear activities, materials and suggestions on how to implement inclusive teaching practices into their teaching. It is great to see that students in various countries value similar things! I really enjoy working with our international team!" Oksana Kavatsyuk (University of Groningen):
Participants and Stakeholders
Coordinator: Drs. Catherine Meissner, educational developer and coordinator at the Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Groningen
Other Partner Institutions:
- University of Bordeaux (FR)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- University of Bristol (UK)- associated partner
Team Composition
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Dr. Oksana Kavatsyuk (Assistant professor STEM; expertise in innovative and inclusive science education); Drs. Tom Spits (educational developer; expertise in online learning design); Iva Beemster (student assistant); Yumán Puerta Bakour (student assistant); Drs. Ruben Comadina Granson (teacher trainer; expertise in intercultural competence and multilingualism)
- University of Bordeaux (FR)
- Drs Thierry Villard (lecturer for language and skill development STEM context; expertise in virtual exchange); Drs Sophie Cartier (Director of Studies of Computer Science Department; expertise in internationalisation at home)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- Angelika Thielsch (educational developer, lecturer and researcher; expertise in educational technology and teacher professionalisation)
- University of Bristol (UK)- associated partner
- Dr Kevin Haines (Deputy Director of the Centre for Academic Language and Development (CALD); expertise in Co-Creating Curricula with Students, with a focus on diversity as a resource for learning)
Stakeholders/External Partners:
The CoCreate project works closely with the STEM faculties of participating institutions. The Faculty of Science and Engineering and University College Groningen at the University of Groningen (coordinating institution) are playing a particularly active role in this project.
Objectives
The project group at the University of Groningen already experiences strong potential for bringing teachers and educational developers together and for facilitating exchange on this theme with professionals from other ENLIGHT institutions. We observe that the concrete outcomes of the project initiate conversations and help to engage teachers and educational developers by inviting them to contribute feedback, existing resources, and examples of good teaching practice.
The project team intends to test and evaluate the first version of the e-learning course in collaboration with additional ENLIGHT partners who have not yet been involved. Through this approach, the project aims to disseminate the course across the wider ENLIGHT network and make it available to more institutions. Moreover, the project team plans to disseminate the survey results through publication in an international research journal.
Contact
Contact Person: Drs. Catherine Meissner, University of Groningen
Additional Information
One of the resources that has been co-created with students in the beginning phase of the project is the educational game, Feedback from a Monster. It is a roleplay game designed to build awareness of intercultural communication and inclusive peer feedback. Participants take on the roles of fictional “monsters,” each representing a distinct communication style, and practice giving feedback in a safe, playful setting. The game encourages reflection on how different feedback approaches are perceived, making it a flexible and engaging tool for group work introductions, mentoring activities, and workshops with students and staff. The materials and instructions are open resources and already being used in several STEM programmes at different ENLIGHT institutions.