Navigating uncharted waters

In 2019, Andreas Baumgart, a professor of Technical Mechanics in the HAW Hamburg Department of Mechanical Engineering and Production Management, decided to organise a year abroad for himself and his family. He wanted to do this through the International Office’s network in order to find a suitable partner institution where he could continue his teaching activities. What began as a vague idea quickly became a concrete plan, which took place successfully despite the coronavirus pandemic, language barriers and bureaucratic hurdles.

How did it all begin?

After coming up with the idea, Prof. Baumgart contacted Martina Schulze, the head of the International Office. It quickly became clear that a one-year teaching stay at a foreign university involved many hurdles. Short-term stays are much easier to organise and finance because, for example, the ERASMUS+ programme for instructors can serve as a legal basis for teaching abroad, as well as a source of financial support. The question was therefore how a one-year stay could be financed and how Prof. Baumgart’s teaching at HAW Hamburg could be continued during his absence.

Unusual problems require unusual measures.

This is how the idea of looking for a teaching exchange came about. An exchange would mean that for the period of Prof. Baumgart’s stay at a partner university, a professor with similar qualifications would come to HAW Hamburg. Through the International Office’s network, partner universities were then specifically contacted and informed of the idea.

Unexpectedly, it did not take long for an answer to arrive – from Turku, Finland. Prof. Dr. Patric Granholm, a professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Business at the Turku University of Applied Sciences (Turku UAS),[1] had also made the decision to teach abroad and was happy about the opportunity that now presented itself. The two parties were put in touch and initially agreed to short visits, funded through the ERASMUS+ programme for teaching stays, to discuss the further planning and implementation of the idea and, of course, to get an initial impression of the other country and partner institution.

The euphoria of finding an exchange partner was quickly dampened by a number of problems: How should the payment of the professors’ wages be managed, and which legal conditions had to be met for the continuation of the two men’s existing employment contracts at their home universities? What regulations applied regarding health, liability and accident insurance in the workplace? How should the professors’ workloads be distributed at the universities? How should the intellectual property rights with respect to the teaching be handled?

It quickly became clear that a new cooperation agreement was necessary to clarify all of these and other issues. This was realised thanks to a great deal of good will on the part of both universities, the help of the International Office, the personnel and legal departments, and the active support of the presidents of both universities, Vesa Taatila (Turku UAS) and Micha Teuscher (HAW Hamburg), who both strongly supported the implementation of the project. In total, the project planning took two years.

The exchange – personal experiences

Both Andreas Baumgart and Patric Granholm are able to say that they had many new experiences. Unfortunately, it has to be noted that because of the corona pandemic, it was not possible for Patric Granholm to teach in person at the HAW Hamburg campus. His courses took place exclusively online. Social and cultural life in both cities – Turku and Hamburg – was also significantly restricted due to the pandemic.

 ‘As Andreas Baumgart’s counterpart in the teaching exchange, I had the opportunity to teach one of the three Applied Computer Science courses in English, for which 180 students were registered. […] The experience of teaching online was not that different from the online courses I had held previously for my Finnish students. The difficulties of getting students involved and the absence of direct feedback were the same. In addition, the course and the teaching materials had been designed for in-person teaching. […] Despite these difficulties, the small number of active and respectful participants made the course a mostly positive experience.’[2] - Patric Granholm

Fortunately, Andreas Baumgart was able to teach in person part of the time and can relay his experiences. He was most excited about the open design of the campus building ‘EduCity’ at Turku UAS:

‘EduCity supports interaction and group work. It is something completely different from the narrow hallways at HAW Hamburg where the professors have their offices.’[3] - Andreas Baumgart

In addition to the open design of the campus, Andreas Baumgart was also impressed by the project-based learning and study methods at Turku UAS. As an example, he noted a course in which a water pump is produced using a 3D printer, calling it ‘an outstanding combination of theoretical knowledge and practical application’.[4] He sees this as an approach that should also be used in Germany. On the other hand, Andreas Baumgart sometimes found it difficult to facilitate interactive and open course participation. He cites language barriers and the increasing digitalisation of courses, which makes it possible to disappear into anonymity, as possible reasons for this.

‘The seminars that I instructed in Turku were mostly for Bachelor’s students in the area of engineering. Luckily, I had colleagues who could give the students additional help in Finnish in the critical phases of the seminars. I have to admit that I was very surprised that using English in the courses turned out to be a hindrance, especially in a country like Finland where most of the people you encounter speak fluent conversational English.’[5] - Andreas Baumgart

Nevertheless, the teaching and the accompanying intercultural experiences were positive. And the personal experiences of Andreas Baumgart’s family were a positive surprise – especially how the Finnish teachers treated his two daughters:

 ‘In Finland it seems like the teachers are much closer to the students emotionally than is the case in Germany. They teach their students by offering them support and “coaching”, instead of just holding a lecture.’[6] - Andreas Baumgart

During the rest of his time in Finland, Andreas Baumgart plans to explore the country’s nature and climb Koli Mountain, before it’s time to head back to his northern German home of Hamburg. Alongside priceless intercultural experience and a new, stronger partnership between Turku UAS and HAW Hamburg, the two professors and all those involved in this project bring with them a ‘blueprint’ for future cooperative projects like it, of which there will hopefully be many.

 


[1] Turku is the sixth-largest city in Finland and has approximately 180,000 residents. Turku UAS was founded in 1992 and consists of the faculties of Engineering and Business, Health and Well-being, and the Arts Academy. It is home to approximately 9,000 students.

[2] Granholm, P., et al. [2021]: Navigating Uncharted Waters: A One-Year German-Finnish Faculty Exchange’.

[3] Source (accessed on 2 July 2021).

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

Contact

Martina Schulze
Leitung International Office
HAW Hamburg

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