Teaching Model


Courses of study

Teaching Model


At LIUC, the learning path of our students is focused on a teaching model based on three underlying principles:

  • ongoing updating – our lecturers are committed to renewing the teaching content continuously, taking into account the evolution of knowledge in each subject area and the needs of organisations. To ensure effective teaching, our courses employ a diverse set of methodologies to complement the lectures, from role play to design workshops to simulations, based on apps developed by our lecturers, exploiting technology as a potential tool to facilitate cognitive processes;
  • the complementarity between theoretical notions and experience: courses at LIUC develop a rigorous knowledge of the principles and methods underlying management and engineering activities, but also the ability to put them into practice;
  • the complementarity between people-centredness and enabling digital technologies: at LIUC each student is first and foremost a person on a learning path, with his or her own motivation, cultural background and interests. We strive to see the uniqueness of these aspects as an asset and not a problem. On the other hand, we recognise digital technologies as a potential ally in managing this complexity (through the LIUC e-Corsi platform), as well as being the subject of hands-on courses (SAP for business applications, Introduction to ERP systems: MicroSoft Dynamics).

TEACHING METHODS

The focus on students involves continuous reflection on the most effective ways to develop managerial and engineering skills in an increasingly complex economic and social context.

LIUC lecturers employ teaching methodologies and techniques that meet this need. LIUC students experiment with innovative technologies for business management, use online platforms for collaborative learning, and develop interdisciplinary projects aimed at innovation in real business contexts.

Description and Training Objectives

In the teaching of engineering education, an important role is played by the development of modelling skills, which in this methodology takes place via the use of software applications.

Students are accompanied in the construction of models of increasing complexity developed according to an iterative methodology, acquired during the course; they work systematically individually, or in small groups (so as to encourage critical analysis and comparison), starting from specifications provided by the lecturer. The course therefore has an explicitly experimental approach: software applications allow students to simulate the behaviour of modelled reality (e.g. dynamic systems or social networks) and refine their representation by means of scenario and sensitivity analyses. The student’s use of the software encourages trial-and-error learning.

Courses using this methodology

Description and Training Objectives

The debate method involves discussing a problem or trying to answer a question in the classroom, with the aim of cooperatively developing insights into the issue at hand and generating new questions. The discussion typically takes place with students divided into groups that coordinate to support – or refute – a statement or argument.

Discussion allows students to interact with the course content, gaining awareness of their own level of understanding, consolidating topics already studied and fostering cooperative learning.

In debate, students propose positions for or against an argument or concept and discuss; this also allows them to develop decision-making skills and critical thinking.

Public speaking encourages one to express oneself effectively and appropriately, with empathy and managing emotions and stress.

Courses using the methodology

Eventi e Progetti

Description and Training Objectives

The flipped classroom is an innovative teaching method that overturns the logic of a traditional lesson. Whereas in a traditional lesson the teacher explains concepts in the classroom and then asks the student to practise them at home, in this mode the students receive the study material in electronic format (videos, tests and documents) before the lecture and then practise in class with the support of the teacher.

Prior to the lesson, students access the virtual course room where they find the course material. During the lesson, the teacher checks understanding of the content shared and then organises the students into groups that discuss the projects assigned by the teacher and propose a solution. This is followed by a peer evaluation of the different group solutions, coordinated and evaluated by the teacher.

In this way, the students (with the support of the teacher) experience not only the teaching content, but also try to put themselves in the role of the evaluator in order to hone their learning skills.

Courses using the methodology

The teaching methodology exploits the role-play technique: small groups of students are asked to develop product or process innovation projects, playing the role of entrepreneur, top manager or designer.

Interaction with company testimonials facilitates the understanding of critical project issues or allows the collection of functional specifications directly from innovation professionals and managers.

During the course lecturers illustrate models and techniques that students immediately apply to the specific project context and they support its development by giving continuous feedback on the progress of work.

Some examples:

At the beginning of the Industrial Design course, a company presents one of its products that it wishes to update, and then supports the students in addressing the critical issues that arise during the development of the project and participates in the students’ final presentation. Three of the products developed by the students on this course were actually then patented by the ‘commissioning’ companies.

In Design and Development of IoT Systems, students employ Design Thinking to develop working prototypes, by integrating information and communication technologies that have been presented and explained during the course.

Courses using this methodology

Description and training objectives

Experiential education is recognised in the literature as a methodology that, by exploiting the principle ‘I listen, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand and learn’, ensures the effectiveness of training. Learning factories exploit the principle of experiential education in a simulated factory environment. The simulation of a production environment allows the effects of any decision or behaviour to be experienced directly in a risk-free manner. Receiving immediate feedback on the quality of decisions and behaviour stimulates curiosity and discovery learning, encouraging participants to actively participate and interact.

The practical application takes place within a simulated (but realistic) table football assembly and disassembly factory. The many components of the football table, of varying volume and weight, make the activities taking place inside the factory realistic and bring the students closer to the complexity of the production processes.

Courses using the methodology

Collaborative learning via online platform

Description and Training Objectives

The underlying objective of this methodology is to create an environment that complements, not replaces, face-to-face teaching. Within this environment, students interact with each other and with teachers, creating and exchanging content, far beyond a simple distribution of teaching materials. This provides a continuous stimulus, outside of class time, for discussion and in-depth study of the topics covered, including exchanges between students and giving the teacher the opportunity to monitor the degree of understanding of the course content, so as to act promptly both in class and in the virtual classroom.

The tool for this methodology is an online platform (a course website, with access reserved for students and teachers who register on it), equipped with a multiplicity of functions, which together enable the creation of a virtual classroom, an online environment, with an interface similar to that of social networking platforms.

Courses using the methodology

 

LIFE SKILLS IN ACTION

In order to better prepare students to deal with the current complexity and competitiveness of the world of work, LIUC – Cattaneo University has designed the Life Skills in action pathway whose aim is to train students in soft skills, i.e. those transversal competences, unrelated to specific technical know-how, which enable people to interact, relate with others and integrate with the context of reference.


i-FAB

The i-FAB laboratory simulates the operation of a factory organised according to lean logic, using many of the tools of the Industry 4.0 paradigm, the fourth industrial revolution.

The i-FAB is a concrete example of a smart factory, demonstrating the benefits that digital technologies can bring to operational management.


C.Lab

C.Lab by ComoNExT – Innovation Hub with LIUC – Cattaneo University is a space aimed at economics and engineering students, supporting them in developing their entrepreneurial behaviour. A meeting place between universities and businesses, the project aims to expose students to a stimulating environment for the development of innovation projects with an entrepreneurial vocation and aims to evaluate innovative ideas and support them through a mentoring and incubation process with ComoNExT, an incubator certified by the Ministry of Economic Development.


Workshops with companies

Among the objectives of our training courses is to give students the opportunity to test themselves, in workshops co-designed and co-managed by the University and companies, on topics that form an integral part of the curriculum, with practical relevance and maximum topicality for the industrial world.


COUNSELLING AND WELL-BEING

The Counselling and Well-Being Service is an innovative offering that aims to give students market-responsive skills, looking at ‘knowing how to be’ and not just ‘knowing how to do’. The objective of integrating Hi-Tech and Hi-Touch, in analogy with the didactic approach and in line with best management practice, is a hallmark of the activities of this unit, which ar carried out in synergy with various administrative and teaching units in the University.


Learning and Teaching Hub

This is a team that brings together the expertise of lecturers, researchers and university staff with two objectives: on the one hand, to offer support to lecturers in the implementation of educational innovation projects, and on the other hand, to be a driver of innovation itself, by drawing up and coordinating proposals.

The L&TH offers a range of integrated services including supporting the University’s Special Projects for Educational Innovation and the launch of new initiatives. In addition, it is responsible for the consolidation of teacher training/information on principles, methodologies and technologies, as well as for research on the teaching innovation needs of teachers and proactive consultancy for the redesign of individual courses.

Finally, it promotes all good practice related to increasing interaction between students and between teachers and students: from teaching methods to teacher office hours, from the figure of the class assistant to group work, from the classroom setting to peer-to-peer assessment.

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