Text and photo: Kirsi Saarinen & Minna Metsäportti
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The fourth Fast Track to Professional English course took place in spring 2018. Students from the fields of engineering and health care accomplished their compulsory professional English courses by studying together in our 5-week Tabula-based web course.
This spring we had a German colleague participating in the course. Mr. Hubertus Weyer gave an interactive Skype lecture on “Tool box meeting as a communication act in health and safety”.
One of the main aims in Fast Track English is to form mixed teams, plan and work on the final project. In the earlier courses, students have designed and worked on a variety of topics such as “Healthy Building” and “Microchip Technology in Paramedicine”.
This spring we chose another approach. Students discussed, reflected on and presented their views on what the forthcoming digital learning environment of Tampere3 should be like. The students’ suggestions were included in the initial planning stage of the environment development.
The fifth Fast track English will start in autumn. The concept will be developed further and new approaches will be adopted. A special emphasis will be given to examining and analyzing students’ experiences of studying and learning in a multi-professional student group.
