This resource can be used for professional development purposes of teaching staff. If you have any questions about the materials, don’t hesitate to contact the CHARM-EU professional development team.

Hackathon approach

CHARM-EU has organised several ‘hackathons’ for staff of the MSc programme Global Challenges for Sustainability. The goal is to bring together teaching staff and KCT members to (re)design, evaluate and align modules in the MSc programme. These type of professional development hackathons have been implemented in CHARM-EU since 2021. They have demonstrated to be an effective approach for progressing a lot with module (re)design, alignment and professional development in a relatively short period of time.  

The themes of the workshops during the week are chosen based on student feedback and needs addressed by the programme board. The workshops are designed by the educationalists, who have been continuously supporting the KCTs throughout the design process. All these efforts are brought together to create a programme that fits the needs of the teaching staff as good as possible. 

The week’s schedule balanced structured workshops with flexible work hours and cultural activities. Each day began with targeted sessions on subjects like the alignment of assessment methods with learning objectives, redesigning teaching activities for better programme alignments, and creating a more inclusive learning environment. KCT members worked in these sessions to brainstorm and implement improvements for the MSc programme. In addition to the academic work, participants had time for flexible working hours, allowing them to reflect, collaborate, and discuss ideas informally. This balance of structured and flexible time helped participants to work on shared goals and engage with each other. Cultural activities were added to the evening programme, to strengthen connections between staff members from different institutions. This was especially important considering the MSc programme will be expanding with four new partner universities.  

Learning objectives 

After the hackathon, participants are able to: 

• Finalize the (re)design for modules in MSc programme(s), based on the latest student evaluations  

• Improve the alignment of modules in  MSc programme(s)
• Onboard new staff members into MSc programme(s) and their modules 

Resource: