Changes to teaching and learning at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies!

The summer semester at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies has come to an end. Most thesis defences have now taken place, as has the graduation ceremony, during which we symbolically said farewell to our graduates.

The end of one academic year naturally marks the beginning of another, bringing changes to study programmes and, consequently, to the student experience. Some of these changes directly address proposals submitted by both full-time and part-time students, while others stem from initiatives put forward by our academic staff. Students will see some of the changes as early as October, while the effects of others will take a little longer to become visible.

Here are the key elements of the process of improving teaching and learning at the Faculty:

1. We are working on changes to our study programmes.The process began with qualitative research involving Political Science students and academic staff, who reflected on and discussed how best to adapt the curriculum to the demands of the contemporary world and labour market. The revised programmes will take some time to become visible, as they must first undergo formal approval procedures. However, we will seek to implement some of the recommendations identified during the research without waiting for the new programmes to be formally adopted.

2. We are conducting in-depth analyses of thousands of course evaluation surveys. This will enable us to identify the courses, teaching formats and lecturers that enjoy students’ trust, as well as to introduce monitoring measures and targeted improvements wherever concerns arise regarding compliance with teaching quality standards.

3. A competition for teaching innovation is currently under way. We are actively looking for engaging teaching methods developed by our academic staff and analysing how they could be used more widely.

4. We have also made changes to the teaching assignments for certain courses, ensuring a better match between individual lecturers’ areas of expertise, course content and the overall study programme.

5. Among other initiatives, we have purchased licences for the Faculty to use simulation games in teaching. These games were specifically developed as educational tools for the degree programmes offered by our Faculty.

6. We maintain an ongoing dialogue with the student community, including both the Students’ Union and representatives of individual groups and degree programmes. We greatly value the openness with which students share their comments and ideas, as well as draw our attention to problems. This enables us to respond quickly and continuously work to maintain high teaching standards.

7. We are also investing in infrastructure. We are expanding the equipment available in our qualitative research studio, including the focus group facility, and preparing to open a podcast recording studio. We hope that students will be interested in co-creating this type of content.

8. From October, student amenity areas will be available in the Faculty building, where students will be able to heat up their food or relax between classes.

9. At the same time, we are expanding our cooperation with organisations and institutions in our social and economic environment. We regularly engage with representatives of public administration, business, non-governmental organisations and other institutions that cooperate with the Faculty. We want their experience and expectations to help us improve our study programmes, teaching methods and the skills developed by our students. Our aim is to ensure that WNPiSM graduates are as well prepared as possible for the challenges of the contemporary labour market and are able to respond to the real needs of employers and public institutions.

10. An open debate on the future of teaching and learning at WNPiSM has been rescheduled for the beginning of the academic year.We would like to invite students, academic staff, graduates and representatives of our social and economic partners to participate. It will provide an opportunity for a shared discussion on the future direction of education, new teaching methods and the skills employers are likely to expect in the coming years.

11. Our leading position in the Perspektywy Ranking is not only a source of satisfaction, but above all a commitment to continuous development. We therefore remain open to new solutions, opinions and feedback from students, academic staff and external partners, while consistently introducing modern teaching methods. We listen, engage in dialogue and respond to a changing environment in order to continuously improve the quality of teaching and effectively prepare students for the challenges of the future.

We hope that the consistent implementation of our plan to improve the quality of teaching and learning at WNPiSM will bring tangible benefits to our students. We believe it will not only increase their satisfaction with studying at WNPiSM, but also genuinely strengthen their opportunities and potential in the labour market.