WaterEd

RDI platform: Smart VAMK

Project code: 48321

Language: Finnish

Project description

There is no national teaching material for higher education in water management, but in practice each teacher has to compile the material needed for the courses themselves. This takes a huge amount of time and one teacher may not have a strong knowledge of all aspects of water management. At the same time, working time for teaching and preparation has been reduced in universities as funding from the Ministry of Education has become tighter. As risk management and safety measures in water utilities have become more stringent, visits to the sites for teaching have also had to be reduced in many places. However, employers in the water management sector have indicated that the teaching at universities of applied sciences should be work-oriented and provide not only generic work skills but also the ability to perform basic calculation tasks in the water sector, for example. In addition, with a wave of retirements in water utilities in the coming years, a new workforce with an interest in water management is needed. VVY has carried out studies on the skills needed in water utilities, which are one of the starting points for this project.

Goals

The teaching materials will be designed to be suitable for use in as wide a range of course implementations as possible. The materials to be developed will be tested in all participating universities during the project to ensure their quality and functionality. At the end of the project, the materials will be distributed directly to all university teachers who express a wish to use them. The project will be carried out in cooperation with several universities of applied sciences (TurkuAMK, SAMK, SAVONIA, VAMK) in order to involve the widest possible range of expertise in the development of the teaching materials and to promote national networking and cooperation among water management teachers.

Results

This project develops a range of work-based teaching materials for joint use by water management teachers, including:

• calculation exercises with solutions (e.g. sizing of basins, mass balances, dosing of chemicals, oxygenation)
• teaching videos, which are made in cooperation with representatives from the working world, e.g.. interviews with water management consultants and various operational demonstrations from water utilities
• question bank for both automated exams and exam questions
• laboratory work instructions for water management needs – management of water management administrative and legal obligations