MUSE – UM educational innovations
Educational innovations
The TAKE-OFF call for proposals, which supports educational innovations, complements the educational transformation strategy of the institutions and components of the MUSE consortium. It aims to promote high-quality education that reflects the institution’s excellence in training and supporting students as they acquire skills, the pedagogical transformation of academic programs, and the development of interdisciplinarity, using innovative teaching methods and supporting existing Master’s programs to meet international standards of excellence and attractiveness and/or the creation of new Master’s programs. This call is open to all teaching teams at the consortium’s member institutions.
At the heart of the challenges addressed by our I-ISITE, educational innovation and excellence in our educational offerings require a profound transformation of learning approaches and spaces.This is why the fourth round of support for flagship innovations under the TAKE OFF program is backing projects involving innovative educational equipment. To ensure a lasting impact that benefits as many people as possible, these transformations are firmly embedded in the overall development strategies of the program components and institutions.
With a budget of over €1 million, the MUSE Board, acting on the recommendation of the evaluation committee—composed of recognized external figures in the field and experts from MUSE’s Center for Support of Pedagogical Innovations (CSIP)—selected four projects:
Facilities for project-based work combining mobility, virtual tools, 3D technology, and experimentation(APP’ MOV)
Faculty of Sciences | Project leaders: Patricia Cucchi, Nelly Godefroy
Escape Game at Xstry – Integrated Training(EXIT)
Faculty of Science | Project Leaders: Karine Molvinger
Master's in Wood Science(Master's in Wood)
Faculty of Science | Project Leaders: Bruno Clair, Sandrine Bardet
Quantitative Biology in Practice(QuBiP)
Faculty of Science | Project Leaders: Cherine Bechara, Luca Ciandrini
As a flagship program of I-SITE MUSE’s educational innovation, this call for proposals is specifically designedto support the transformation and/or creation of academic programs. It aims to support the strengthening or optimization of academic programs, with a focus on Master’s programs, engineering programs, and non-degree programs such as summer schools and institutional certificates.
With a budget of nearly €3 million, the MUSE Board, acting on the recommendation of an evaluation committee composed of recognized external experts in the field and experts from MUSE’s Center for Support of Pedagogical Innovations (CSIP),selected 30 projects:
Action 1: Support for existing national degrees (5 projects for the FdS)
Supporting a Paradigm Shift and Change in Teachers’ Approaches to Active Pedagogy(APP-ACTIV)
Faculty of Sciences| Project Leader: Patricia Cucchi
Consolidate BioHealth Master(CBHM)
Faculty of Science| Project Leader: Rachel Cerdan
Innovative Training through Research(FIRE)
Faculty of Sciences| Project Leader: Sylvie Hurtrez-Bousses
International Biodiversity Field School(IBIO)
Faculty of Sciences| Project Leader: Vincent Girard
Quantitative Biology(qBio) Track
Faculty of Sciences| Project Leaders: Luca Ciandrini and Cherine Bechara
Action 2: Support for new national degree programs (2 projects for the FdS)
Eco-Epidemiology of Animal and Human Pathogens: Comprehensive and Utilitarian Resources(EpiCURe)
Faculty of Sciences| Project Leader: Catherine Moulia
Master's in Wood Science
Faculty of Sciences| Project Leaders: Bruno Clair and Sandrine Bardet
Support and facilitate the educational transformation strategy of institutions and their constituent units
The second round of the Take-off call for proposals, designed to support and advance the educational transformation strategy of the institutions and departments within the MUSE consortium, ran from October 15, 2018, to February 20, 2019. The main objectives of Take-off #2 are to:
=> Promote high-quality education that reflects the institution’s excellence in training and supporting students as they acquire skills.
=> Promote pedagogical transformation of academic programs and foster interdisciplinarity through the use of innovative teaching methods.
=> Bring existing Master’s programs up to international standards of excellence and appeal, and support the creation of new Master’s programs.
Take-Off #2 was divided into three main initiatives:
=> Learning Labs
=> Pedagogical Innovation in the MUSE Curriculum
=> From Theoretical Knowledge to Business Practice
(See all projects)
Learning Labs
Support for the development of flexible, collaborative, and innovative physical learning spaces. These spaces are designed to encourage and facilitate creative teaching practices that foster collective intelligence. These approaches must be integrated into a strategy for the educational management of these spaces and, as a result, have a tangible impact on the educational transformation of institutions or departments.
Two of the six projects selected for this initiative are led by the Faculty of Sciences
How can we foster innovative teaching methods, test them out, and train teachers? To drive a shift in teaching practices and advance instructional design at the School of Science, we would like to equip it with a “learning lab.” Combining mobile, colorful, and modular furniture with digital tools, stationery, and multi-purpose movable boards and walls, it will be suitable for a wide range of uses. It could serve as a “brainstorming room,” a project room, or even a “fablab,” depending on the tools we can install later.
It will feature a communal area where visitors can enjoy a light meal. It will primarily be available to academic advisors, FDS faculty, and students enrolled in TU or problem-based learning courses. The three main intended uses are: Exchange and Training, Incubation, and Demonstration.
In this project, we aim to develop an innovative interdisciplinary learning lab to encourage biology and bioinformatics students to collaborate by combining their skills, thereby taking an active role in their own education. This collaborative space, comprising two molecular biology labs dedicated to DNA sequencing that open onto two modular computer labs, will expose students to a real research laboratory where they can generate and analyze data themselves to collectively address a shared scientific question.
A dynamic, multidisciplinary team composed of faculty members, researchers, and technical staff will support them through the process of publishing their findings in international scientific journals and disseminating the results (through conference presentations and outreach to the general public).
Educational Innovation in the MUSE Curriculum
Support for the pedagogical transformation of a university course or program. This initiative aims to stimulate pedagogical creativity and facilitate the shift in approach among faculty and faculty-researchers toward promoting student autonomy and the internationalization of programs. This may encompass two types of projects:
=> Innovative pedagogical activities involving a critical mass of faculty and students focused on active, flipped, hybrid, peer-led, and other innovative teaching approaches.
=> New Master’s programs, university degrees, engineering degrees, and architecture degrees that meet the criteria for internationally attractive programs (courses taught in a foreign language, innovative teaching methods, etc.).
Five of the 21 projects selected for this initiative are led by the Faculty of Sciences
Cell biology is an important field in both animal biology and plant biology. Unfortunately, this field requires the acquisition of a certain amount of knowledge that can later be combined with interpersonal skills and practical skills to analyze complex situations. The way cell biology is currently taught, particularly in the first year of undergraduate studies, therefore remains very lecture-based, with traditional lectures, tutorials, and lab sessions.
We propose introducing a more engaging and active learning activity through this Trivial Pursuit-style serious game project for L1 and L2 levels. The game software, which was developed by educational engineers at the University of Marseille (UM) in the Faculty of Law, can be adapted to any subject area. This adaptation, which requires the design of a specific logo and a large database of questions, will allow students to combine fun with learning.
The Mobility European Master in Evolution is an international master’s program resulting from the collaboration of four leading European universities: the University of Groningen, Uppsala University, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and the University of Montpellier; and a special partnership with
Harvard University (US). A similar partnership with the University of Lausanne is currently being developed.
This international master’s program, in which all courses are taught in English and which is designed to promote student mobility (students may not spend more than two semesters at the same university), significantly contributes to the University of Montpellier’s international reputation through its academic offerings. This project aims to consolidate certain innovations we propose to implement in order to ensure that this master’s program remains at the forefront of international programs in this field.
The Chem’Sc@pe educational innovation project brings together three academic departments within the Faculty of Sciences: Chemistry, Computer Science, and Languages. It involves designing and developing an educational escape game centered on organic chemistry at the first-year undergraduate level. It is primarily aimed at students (~950) enrolled inTU OrganicTU , HLCH201, during the second semester of their first year of the Bachelor’s program at the Faculty of Sciences. Chem’Sc@pe aims to make organic chemistry more accessible and engaging for students, facilitate learning, and foster cooperation among students (through small-group work).
Chem’Sc@pe will combine a game board with a card game and a smartphone app. The game will be available in French and English versions. In the medium term, this game could be adapted for other scientific disciplines taught within the Faculty of Sciences, and more broadly for other departments at the University of Montpellier.
The Plat-Ini-UM Project arose from a simple question: How can we reconcile university education—which tends to be theoretical—with career readiness, which is based primarily on quantifiable, practical skills? To provide an appropriate answer to this question, we aim to develop problem-based learning in a scientific field that is highly valued in the professional world: the study of biological electrical phenomena. To this end, we propose implementing an experimental-based curriculum that integrates flipped and reverse pedagogies, offering students genuine freedom of imagination, conceptualization, and execution of their experiments, in direct interaction with professionals in the field.
This should help students develop critical thinking skills and acquire technical competencies that are valuable and in demand in the professional world, such as the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
Faced with the major challenge of minimizing our impact on the environment, a transition is necessary, particularly in the materials we choose. Wood is the only renewable material that is low-energy to produce, locally sourced, carbon-storing, and recyclable. The uses of wood are growing, and this trend will continue to gain momentum in the coming decades. Drawing on our broad range of expertise in wood, we propose that the Montpellier campus play a leading role in this transition by offering a resolutely interdisciplinary Wood Sciences program. This complex material will be explored from its formation within the tree through to its uses as a material or in molecular form, drawing on expertise in biology, ecology, chemistry, physics, mechanics, civil engineering, and process engineering.
The funding requested for this project aims to bring together local and national stakeholders—including those from academia and the socio-economic sector—to establish a Master’s program in Wood Science based in Montpellier.
Supporting the pedagogical transformation of programs as part of the development of the future MUSE Master’s Programs of Excellence
=> Promote a quality education label through MUSE, reflecting the institution’s excellence in teaching.
=> Promote innovation within educational programs and recognize this aspect in faculty status.
=> Foster interdisciplinarity by using innovative teaching methods.
=> Bring existing Master’s programs up to international standards of excellence and attractiveness, and support the creation of new Master’s programs through the “Excellence Curricula” Program
This first call for proposals includes four types of initiatives:
Innovative educational projects (approximately 35%)
Development of digital and educational resources (approximately 15%)
Creation or development of educational innovation labs (approximately 40%)
Language training as part of the internationalization of programs (approximately 10%)