For the purpose of the HERA implementation and validation Virtual Campus worked with Porto Polytechnic, a higher education institution. In the scope of the project 2 schools were involved:
- The School of Engineering, ISEP, enrolls more than 6.000 students in total. As future engineers ISEP’s students produce creative solutions for present or upcoming challenges becoming agents of global progress. Each student is unique and ISEP’s job is to channel their potential with the spirit of entrepreneurship, teamwork, out-of-box thinking, and technical expertise all of which are key competences for a successful international career.
- With a long history of training in the field of business sciences and enrolling more than 4500 students and over 200 teachers the Institute of Accounting and Administration of Porto has implemented a higher education model of excellence strongly concerned with creating an interface between the academy and its surrounding community. An example of this strategic thinking is the pioneer training in business simulation, a dynamic model of interdependent activities, which is very closely related to the actual context of business life.
The project outcomes were deployed in the following courses:
- Multimedia Applications, MSc Degree in Computer Engineering
- Serious Games, MSc Degree in Computer Engineering
- Global Businesses, Bachelor Degree in International Trade
Piloting was implemented in collaboration with the School of Engineering and the School of Management of the Porto Polytechnic. This activity took place on March 2nd 2021 in a mixed model approach: a group of 7 students at the MSc level gathered at the School of Engineering to meet with the project participants while a group of 4 students at the MSc level from the School of Management connected through Zoom®.
The activities started with a presentation of the HERA project and learning game. The objectives of the game and available scenarios were presented. Students were then able to test the game but due to time restrictions they were only able to test the most important functionality and existing scenarios. The creation of scenarios was explained but not tried extensively.
Students then had the opportunity to express their views on the game and on the project in a semi-structured way involving the local students and the remote students. The guidelines for the HERA focus groups were followed.