Fachhochschule Technikum Wien

Internationalisation for all Bachelor’s students

With the embedding of the International Skills module (5 ECTS Credits) in all Bachelor's degree programs at the UAS Technikum Wien, internationalization becomes a central element of the curricula.

Objectives

Since the winter semester of 2022, internationalisation has played an essential role for all Bachelor students at the FH Technikum Wien: it has become a fixed component of every Bachelor curriculum in the form of the International Skills module (5 ECTS credits). The aim is for students to deal with international topics and the question of how they want to acquire intercultural skills at an early stage.

Background

In order to gain international experience, there is a wide range of short- and long-term mobilities as well as activities at the UAS Technikum Wien that cater to students’ different circumstances: from a few days to an entire academic year. Internationalization becomes a basic requirement to complete one’s studies.

(Implemented) Activities

The possibilities to build up international and intercultural competences are manifold. A catalog describes measures as well as the ECTS Credits allocated to them. Students can work on acquiring the competencies from the first year onwards by choosing suitable measures depending on their life situation. Until the 6th semester, there is time to complete a bundle of measures of at least 5 ECTS Credits. As part of an internationalization course in the 6th semester, these are then formally assessed with ECTS Credits in the transcript.

Results

Through the introduction of the international skills module, the topic of internationalisation has been transparently embedded in all Bachelor's degree programmes. A positive effect is that all students now think about the acquisition of transversal competences at least once in the course of their studies, for example: transversal competences (adaptability/ flexibility, problem solving, negotiation skills).

Lessons learned

Embedding such a module in existing curricula certainly poses some challenges. For submissions and suggestions from the degree programmes, an editorial group has been set up to make a call once a semester, collect, discuss and implement comments and feedback. In addition, a support tool has been set up to map and track students' plans.

Further links