Educators' Tranining and Development of Teaching Materials

In the second phase of the project, the focus is on the further training of lecturers and the development of innovative teaching materials. Building on the previously developed technical case studies, a didactic framework is being developed together with lecturers that combines modern teaching methods with practical content. The focus is on promoting creative problem solving, interdisciplinary collaboration and competence orientation in engineering education.

The InnoLAB Teachers School is a key activity of the InnoLAB project, which aims to promote innovation and excellence in the teaching of chemical engineering. The event took place from January 26-30, 2026 in Turku/Åbo, Finland, and brought together teachers, researchers and students to share knowledge and explore new approaches to teaching in chemical engineering and related disciplines. The program included a mix of lectures, interactive workshops and case studies, providing participants with a comprehensive platform to further develop their teaching methods and explore modern educational tools.

Aims and focus

The Teachers School focuses on equipping teachers with modern teaching methods and tools that meet the changing needs of chemical engineering. The main objectives include:

• Promoting competency-based and active learning approaches, such as problem-based and project-based learning.
• Integrate digitalization and AI tools into engineering education, including virtual labs and generative AI for teaching and assessment.
• Demonstrating the use of real-world case studies to connect theoretical knowledge with practical applications.
• Promote creativity and innovation in teaching to inspire students and encourage critical thinking.

The program was rounded off with a visit to Åbo Akademi's Laboratory for Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering (TKR), which offered insights into modern research and state-of-the-art facilities.

The Teachers School welcomed a diverse group of participants, including professors, lecturers and students. This unique mix fostered a meaningful dialog, with students providing valuable feedback from a learner's perspective. The presence of external advisors further enriched the discussions and brought in insights from different academic and industry contexts.

The materials and methods developed during the event, including the case studies, will be further refined to be integrated into teaching practices across Europe. These resources will be made available for different educational formats, including face-to-face, hybrid and online teaching.

Acknowledgements

The InnoLAB Teachers School was made possible by the generous support of the European Union Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership (project number 2024-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000255967). The InnoLAB consortium would like to thank all Advisors, participants and organizers whose contributions made this event a great success.

👉 The program is available here.