Centre for Educational Growth marks its 10th anniversary

On 11 October, the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Medical Education Technology Centre (METC) hosted the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Centre for Educational Growth (CEG). Congratulations were extended by the RSU management and colleagues, and the participants spent an informative afternoon listening to an overview of the CEG’s achievements and future plans, as well as speeches delivered by the centre’s international partners.

RSU Rector Prof. Aigars Pētersons thanked Prof. Tatjana Koķe and Prof. Jānis Gardovskis for their idea to establish the CEG, as well as the director and founder of the CEG, Prof. Nora Jansone-Ratinika, for her outstanding work over 10 years.

‘A lot has been achieved over the years - the CEG is one of RSU's centres of excellence and has contributed to the development of the University's international dimension, digitalisation, quality of studies, and research.

We are keen to share the CEG's knowledge and experience of teaching and learning in higher education with other universities, medical institutions and ministries. We are open to the industry and society at large,’ the Rector emphasised.

In her speech, Prof. Tatjana Koķe, former RSU Vice-Rector for Studies, CEG patron and member of the RSU Council, highlighted the joint achievements of CEG and RSU:

‘CEG was the first in Latvia to create guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence, we were also the only university that did not interrupt studies on the first day of the pandemic, because we had the necessary resources; we were also the pioneers in attracting international lecturers.’

Prof. Tatjana Koķe also called for thinking about future challenges, highlighting the possibilities of artificial intelligence to aid teaching and learning, as well as the need to be modern and flexible in designing and implementing labour market-oriented micro-qualification programmes.

‘This is our mission,’ said Nora Jansone-Ratinika, describing the teamwork that goes into the development of CEG and RSU. ‘I would not be able to do this high quality, intense and creative work alone, so I would like to thank my team - it is a privilege to work with talented people who do not need to be encouraged to work, but actually go above and beyond what is expected of them. The CEG's motto - learn to understand and apply what you have learned  - was something we had to live by every day in our work. In order to facilitate the knowledge and skills of the RSU teaching staff, we have to learn at least four times as much ourselves.

Our role is to encourage, to help make it happen step by step, to create a safe environment to ask questions and to make mistakes from which we can learn.’

The CEG team had also prepared several gifts for the RSU lecturers in attendance. Jansone-Ratinika presented the newly developed tools available on the CEG website:

• A glossary of student-centred approaches to learning and teachings (in Latvian),designed to promote a common understanding of educational terminology at RSU, based on up-to-date and internationally recognised explanations. The glossary includes concepts that support the implementation of student-centred learning and explains key aspects of RSU's day-to-day pedagogical work. The terminology is organised into nine levels, covering learning and teaching theories, strategies, modes and forms of study, and methods and techniques;
• A learning organisation form choice tool,to advise lecturers about which of six learning formats is most appropriate based on their answers to eight questions: face-to-face or online, synchronous or asynchronous, and blended or hybrid.

The event also included presentations from several international partners. Thérèse Zhang, Deputy Director for Higher Education at the European University Association, presented current trends in learning and teaching in higher education in Europe. These highlight the increasing diversity of learners, the need for universities to think more about different learning solutions and the priority given to the quality of the learning process, which is directly influenced by the pedagogical competence of lecturers.

Zuhal Zeybekoğlu, Director of the Learning and Teaching Centre at Koç University, Istanbul, gave a historical overview of the establishment of learning and teaching centres in universities worldwide since 1962, their functions and new challenges in their activities - such as the emphasis on lifelong learning and the growing role of artificial intelligence. Innovations in medical education were discussed by Prof. Ellie Hothersall from the University of Dundee School of Medicine in Scotland, and Andis Klegeris, Professor of Biology and Biotechnology at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Dace Reihmane, Assistant Professor and Leading Researcher at RSU and an expert in the Laboratory of Sports and Nutrition Research, and Līga Ozoliņa, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at RSU, one of the most sought-after CEG training facilitators, shared their experiences of working with CEG, its benefits and its impact on a lecturer's work.

CEG was established in 2014 with the aim of creating a focal point for the systematic pedagogical development of lecturers. As the scope of responsibilities naturally expanded, in 2018 the CEG was given a triad of functions - continuing education of lecturers, analysis and improvement of the quality of the study process, and support for pedagogical innovation.

Over the years, the CEG has gained the trust of lecturers through its active, open and supportive approach: when the CEG first started its activities, the most active participants attended five training sessions per year; now the number has reached 17.

CEG has established long-term cooperation with more than 30 partners in Latvia and nearly 40 international partners. In addition to CEG staff, 54 guest lecturers from 17 countries have been invited to take part in organised training sessions. In 10 years, 14 new study programmes have been developed in cooperation with RSU faculties and 27 accreditation procedures have been carried out. CEG learning and teaching experts have developed more than 55 support materials for lecturers and helped RSU lecturers to modernise more than 100 courses under the grant from the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation.

The School of Junior Academics, which is unique in Latvia and was established by the CEG in 2019, is now in its sixth year as a strong forge for RSU's junior faculty and has gained international recognition.

CEG is also well known in Europe - it actively represents RSU in the European University Association and has an extensive network of European and international universities.

The CEG staff are also active in science - the pedagogical research of our lecturers is taken to another level and we can be proud of our own RSU Science Week conference, University Learning & Teaching.

The CEG team has produced a beautiful reflection of their work experience in the issue titled Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Pedagoģiskās izaugsmes centra 10 jubilejas šķirkļi (in Latvian) (The Rīga Stradiņš University Centre for Educational Growth: 10 anniversary chapters), which is also available online in Latvian.

The CEG staff are always open to new ideas and look forward to continuing to work with the active and innovative RSU lecturers. Director Asoc. Prof. Nora Jansone-Ratinika outlines the future perspective as follows:

‘The centre will always be vibrant, enthusiastic and full of friendly faces, because the result of working together is not only rewarding, but also practical and highly valued by the students!’