Vanadzor State University after H. Tumanyan Foundation, Armenia, Lusik Vardanyan, lvard62@gmail.com

partners

1. Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan Foundation, Armenia, Marianna Harutyunyan, marianna.harutyunyan@aspu.am,
2. State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia Foundation, Armenia, Ruzanna Minasyan, ruzannagminasyan@gmail.com
3. Goris State University, Naira Safaryan, nairasaf66@gmail.com
4. “NGO Center” Civil Society Development Organization, Armenia, Arpine Hakobyan, arpinengoc@gmail.com
5. National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance Foundation, Armenia, Varduhi Gyulazyan, v.gyulazyan@anqa.am

Associated Partners
Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre Ngo, Armenia
Vanadzor Municipality, Armenia
Association of Young Historians, AYH, Armenia

1. Technical University of Dresden, Germany, Gerard Cullen, gerard.cullen@tu-dresden.de
2. LUT University, Finland, Leonid Chechurin, Leonid.Chechurin@lut.fi
3. University of Granada, Spain, Ignacio J. Blanco, iblanco@ugr.es
4. Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Ireland, David Quin, david.quin@iadt.ie

1. Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia, Irma Grdzelidze, igrdzelidze@yahoo.com
2. Ilia State University, Georgia, Dimitri Japaridze, japaridze@iliauni.edu.ge
3. Shota Rustaveli State University, Georgia, Vladimer Glonti, vladimer.ghlonti@bsu.edu.ge
4. Sokhumi State University, Georgia, Indira Dzagania, indiradzagania5@gmail.com
5. National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, Georgia, Lasha Macharashvili, l.macharashvili@eqe.ge

Associated Partners
SAORSA, Georgia
Economic Policy and Research Center, Georgia
Georgian Student Organizations Association, Georgia

Summary

It is an irrefutable fact that adopting a holistic approach to teaching and learning has become an asset to well-rounded education striving to develop whole individuals possessing both transferable life skills and academic skills. The former, also referred to as soft skills (SS), give the latter, also known as hard skills, flexibility to develop and keep up-to-date in an ever-changing world. Therein lies the actuality of this project which aims at bridging the discrepancy between the SS offered by Armenian (ARM) and Georgian (GE) higher educational institutions (HEIs) and those demanded by the labour market. The academic programmes of most HEIs in Armenia and Georgia are still rooted in traditional scientific learning methods primarily employed to enhance students‘ subject-specific abilities and skills. In this sense, SS are at a disadvantage because they are not sufficiently developed or timely updated in line with recent trends in education and rapid changes in labour market requirements, especially when it comes to their teaching methodology, content, and assessment.

Hence, with a view to attaining a more advanced level of SS-based knowledge and competencies at HEIs, 10 SS modules/MOOCs are to be designed and implemented into the formal and non-formal education at Bachelor and Master level degree programmes in line with Tuning Methodology from a student-centred and a labor-market demand perspective through the physical and virtual mobility of ARM&GE HEIs‘ staff. The 5 SS ECTS compliant curriculum modules will be incorporated into specific courses or academic programmes of HEIs, and the other 5 will be realized through MOOCs as part of synchronous and asynchronous education, thereby offering efficient lifelong learning opportunities to internal and external stakeholders, including more vulnerable segments of society who need reskilling to forge personalised learning and career pathways. The methodology the project is based on underpins four main models: the Train-the Trainer Model, the Co-Creation Model, the Micro-Credential Framework and the Educational Data Mining Framework, each of which will be directed to efficiently implementing the project deliverables and activities.