B3856 - SEM.VIRTUAL EXCHANGE

Learning outcomes

The aim of the Virtual Exchange seminar is to guide students in the realisation of an internationally organised debate activity on topics relevant to the relationship between society and social and legal rules. At the end of the seminar, students will have had an internationalisation experience, and at the same time will have gained dialogue skills and the ability to construct a structured argumentation in English on topics of social and legal interest.

Course contents

The Virtual Exchange seminar envisages the active involvement of students who will be put together in teams for the guided preparation and realisation of discussion activities in English with groups from a foreign university on topics relevant to the study of the relationship between law and society (such as the impact of information technology on society, its governance and individual rights).

A knowledge of English corresponding to a B2 level (or at least a good A2 level accompanied by communicative fluency) is required for participation.

Readings/Bibliography

For this seminar, the materials for the three discussion topics (all related to the impact of new technologies on society) will be found and processed within the teams by the students themselves, under the guidance of the teacher.

Teaching methods

The seminar will be held online in the first semester (in November) and will be activated with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 15 students.

Although digital registrations will be blocked when the number of 15 students is reached, excluded and interested students are still invited to write to annalisa.verza@unibo.it to be placed on the reserve list, from which they could be added in case additional places become available.

The seminar will consist of:

- 8 meetings of two hours each on Teams managed by the teachers (4 in plenary meeting together with the other class, in which motions will be made and discussed, and 4 only for Italian students, in which assistance will be provided for the preparation of argumentative lines), and also

- other meetings managed autonomously by the students within their own teams, as well as various asynchronous activities for the students to find and process materials.

For the structuring of the debates (which will take place between mixed teams of Italian and foreign students) reference will be made to the World School Debate model (which will be illustrated during the seminar).
The Virtual Exchange activity constitutes an internationalisation activity.

Assessment methods

For the purposes of qualification, students are required to attend at least 70% of the lecture hours, to collaborate with their team in defining the lines of argument for and against for each of the three debates (to be recorded in a "diary"), and to actively participate, together with their team, in one of the three debates (assigned by the lecturers).

The exam will be automatically passed under these conditions, after uploading the seminar diary to Virtuale.

Teaching tools

The seminar will be held exclusively on Teams. The breakout rooms function for team meetings will be used, and the collaborative whiteboard will be used for real-time graphic display of argumentative lines.

Virtuale will also be used as a repository of useful materials for the course, and for the uploading of the student diaries.

Office hours

See the website of Annalisa Verza