First-Time #BIPsters on the Loose! Exploring the First Steps and Challenges of New #BIPstres in Their Exciting Journey

Abstract

In higher education, teachers rely on their professionalism, experience and guidelines. Besides, a teacher is motivated to develop and enhance the curriculum to ensure that it meets educational standards and addresses their students' diverse and evolving needs. Typically, this is an independent effort of the teacher. However, in the case of a joint education such as the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), the situation is different: teachers from various countries and respective higher education institutes (HEIs) collaborate and unify their efforts and harness synergies to provide a coherent new curriculum. The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences of first-timers executing a BIP. We provide experimental evidence and discuss the challenges and opportunities of organising this intercultural education for the first time. This paper builds on the interdisciplinary perspective of the BIP curriculum as a value proposition. The debut adventure relies on a culture of experimentation to navigate the journey. All the teachers were also first-time implementers of a BIP. The main aim of this article is to propose a conceptual framework for a BIP. The engagement of diverse stakeholders is essential. Our journey identifies several stages that may help other teachers in their efforts to develop a BIP. The findings suggest that BIPs are relatively time-consuming, as first-time participants need to have recurring online meetings to prepare, negotiate a wide range of issues, design and set up the programme. Moreover, a BIP is a surprisingly laborious program to organise, as the seemingly diverse resources are not evenly distributed throughout the journey. The excessive workload is specifically related to the learning management system and physical mobility – the intensive week. Despite the challenges, BIPs offer exciting opportunities for teachers to adapt and integrate teaching with other European universities, to provide compelling learning experiences and cross-cultural teamwork for stakeholders, and to inspire participants for further collaborative efforts. Our experiment shows that approaching a BIP as a long-term commitment, collaborative engagement ensures a lasting source of joy for all participants.