Page 7 - The-Academic-value-of-mobility-2018

The experience of pilot projects indicates

that the project’s proposals can have
positive effects
Seven pilot projects have tested a number of the project’s proposals and their
experience indicates that the proposed measures have positive effects. Proactive
guidance that links mobility to the programme’s content provides results in the
form of increased interest and more applicants for student exchanges. The pro-
cess of internationalising intended learning outcomes requires work, but clarifies
the international and intercultural aspects of the programme or course.

The aim of increasing outward mobility has been partially achieved. Mobility has
increased for several of the institutions that participated in the pilot projects on
guidance, albeit from a low level. The pilot projects that worked with the interna-
tionalisation of intended learning outcomes were not able to measure the effect
of their work in relation to student mobility within the pilot projects’ timeframe.
Changing the content and structure of a programme takes longer to implement;
the results are first visible in the longer term.

However, the clearest and perhaps most important conclusion of the pilot pro-
jects’ experiences is that internationalisation and mobility cannot be a priority
for a single unit at an HEI. Coordinated efforts with shared objectives and par-
ticipants from multiple areas of the HEI are necessary for success. Programme
co-ordinators and support from management are highlighted as being particularly
important in achieving change.

The primary message of the Internationalisation Inquiry’s interim report is inte-
gration and cooperation. The investigator believes these are necessary to achieve
1
comprehensive internationalisation. The project has drawn the same conclusion
vis-à-vis mobility; the experience of all the pilot projects indicates that integration
and coordination are factors in successfully increasing outward mobility.

Department, faculty and HEI management, and students, must be involved in
order to achieve the next stage of internationalisation. This requires shared objec-
tives and action plans linked to the HEI’s targets and operational plans, and the
allocation of time and resources.

1 SOU 2018:3, En strategisk agenda för internationalisering – Delbetänkande om ökad
internationalisering av universitet och högskolor, 2018, p. 55.

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