PISH: Problem-Based Learning, Intercultural Communication and STEM in Higher Education

The world is facing challenges concerning the environment and maintenance of sustainable systems. These challenges require collective effort to solve them. This implies that persons from different backgrounds and cultures have to work together. Organizations dealing with these challenges already encourage diversity. The front line personnel in these organizations are STEM graduates, representing the fields of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. This implies that, in addition to their professional qualification that solve environmental and global issues, STEM graduates ought to possess intercultural skills needed to work in multicultural organizations. One of the critical intercultural skills is intercultural communication.

In this project, the partners have decided to provide a framework that will enable the teacher and the student to develop competences in intercultural communication in a peer-to-peer learning environment. PISH will provide the teacher with skills and tools relevant for Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The teacher will be equipped with methodologies, exercises, games, activities and other tools that will help them support the students (domestic and international). The project will leverage on the competences of the partners to equip the teachers with tools on how to guide students to become open-minded, culturally aware and sensitive, culturally intelligent and how students can study together with minimal friction. Finally the project aims at engaging with NGOs, policy makers and relevant associations that can assist in institutionalizing the project outcomes in HEIs.