In the first semester of the academic year 2020/2021 the SIS will teach using a blended approach for courses on the MEIS and MISS master’s degrees. The same will apply to seminars for doctoral candidates in International Studies and to some additional teaching events (workshops, laboratories, and guest lectures).
The SIS will prioritise face-to-face teaching for courses offered during the first year of the MEIS and the second year of the MISS, but is also planning some face-to-face teaching activities for the second year of the MEIS, as well as events intended in the main for second year students.
Blended delivery of priority teaching activities at the SSI will consist of two hours of face-to-face teaching per course, per week (for 10/12 weeks). Courses lasting longer than 18 hours will include an additional two hours of distance learning per week. All remaining activities scheduled in the first semester will be offered via distance learning.
All curricular blended learning activities will be specifically designed to allow students who are not able to be in Trento to access distance learning support, for example by streaming face-to-face classes, support from tutors, instruments available via Moodle, and online staff office hours.
It should be noted that all face-to-face activities are nevertheless subject to health and safety rules, and must be modified or suspended should the situation of the instructor, students or the premises prevent their being held safely. The same applies for the modalities used to deliver face-to-face activities (access to classrooms, presence in university buildings, etc.) – the University will establish procedures according to the most recent guidelines.
Detailed teaching offer
- On the MISS Degree, all obligatory teaching activities, including courses where students must choose between two courses, will be provided via a blended approach.
- On the MEIS Degree, the first year courses Elements of International and EU Law and European and International Politics (basic and advanced) will be offered via distance learning but include, in addition to tutoring activities, new optional face-to-face teaching activities (additional extra-curricular laboratories) linked to each course. The English Language course will be provided via distance learning, with blended teaching for seminar (small group) activities. Obligatory choices for students in the second year of the MEIS - The Economics of European Integration and The Legal Framework of EU Policies - will be delivered via blended learning, as will the extra-curricular course on Research Design.
Students following the second year of a master’s course will also benefit from face-to-face practitioner-led laboratories during the week prior to the start of the teaching semester (MISS Workshops on Applied Security).
All remaining activities scheduled in the first semester will be offered via distance learning.
General guidance on distance learning methods
The SIS will optimise the use of distance learning methods by exploiting all available features of available technological resources, including Moodle pages and the Zoom platform for downloadable video recordings as well as livestreaming.
The staff of the SIS will nevertheless be free to choose their preferred teaching methods, which should be carefully designed in light of the characteristics of the material to be taught, the number of students on the course, and personal inclination.
When choosing between real time (‘synchronous’) and recorded (‘asynchronous’) teaching, the general line taken by the university is that staff should not use any single method alone, but seek to achieve a balance amongst different techniques. All teaching will include some real time activities in order to guarantee face-to-face contact between staff and students. The SIS will seek to develop individually-tailored solutions for students with special teaching needs linked to distance learning.