Transnational Higher Education ongoing improvement of its learning and teaching is a necessity for the modern university to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
This requires careful reflection on current practice and exploration of new ideas. Such research needs to be broad enough to include the transnational dimensions of the learning experience. For the German Jordanian University, transnationality is integral to its identity and practice.
Research on this topic is therefore an important priority.
In February 2020, a Memorandum of Understanding was established between the School of Applied Humanities and Languages, and the Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg.
Funding for a research project entitled Transnational Higher Education (THE) was obtained from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). This was designed to provide researchers with direct experience of innovative transnational education. In order to structure this, participants were drawn from a vertical slice of the two organizations – young lecturers, professors, students and administrators – all learning together. In this way it becomes feasible to obtain a range of perspectives. The initial plan was to have all participants physically together in the same workshop, but the COVID 19 Pandemic intervened, and the process needed to be modified.
In a series of online meetings, stretching from September through to December 2020, the participants met online. The task was to explore the potential of storytelling (the pedagogy of narration) in university education. As it turned out, digital learning provided another dimension for experience and reflection. Thee mixed project groups were formed and, out of their intense engagement, three short films of campus life were produced.
At the end, when these participants shifted their roles from that of digital storytellers to that of academic researchers studying their own experience, they became aware of the important thinking and communication that had taken place during the process.
These experiences are recorded in the publication. A crucial outcome of the project has been the creation of small cooperative research networks. Jointly produced scientific papers on the theme of transnational higher education are currently being finalized. The intention is to build on these foundations over the coming years. Funding applications to support and expand these activities are underway.