Projects before 2007

From 2005 to 2007, the Interfaculty support network for teaching and technology (RISET) operated as the Skills, Support and Production Centre - a structure required by the Swiss Virtual Campus for the granting of financial contributions. This funding made it possible to launch two calls for projects, in 2006 and 2007, aimed at developing innovative teaching projects incorporating technology.

At the end of the CVS, the UNIL Management, mindful of the need to continue to support particularly innovative teachers, set up a pedagogical innovation fund which, from the outset, will be used for the development of innovative teaching projects 2008, takes over from RISET's calls for projects, by also opening it up to projects that do not integrate technologies.

In 2007, 7 projects were able to benefit from RISET support and develop educational scenarios using a variety of technologies. 

Many academic fields require the ability to characterize and analyze documents in the form of images using conventional annotation.

To this end, an original forensic science project involving fingerprint analysis was proposed and then developed in 2007 as part of Unil's Fond dédagogique innovation by the Ecole des Sciences Criminelles. From this initial version, which was tailored to the specific requirements of forensic science, a generic version was then produced to enable it to be used in other academic fields.

Risk analysis can be carried out in a number of different ways. One of these is to undertake a heuristic approach with the aim of identifying and qualifying risks, whatever they may be. This is why offering students a framework for structuring their thinking should, thanks to IT, enable them to familiarise students with risk analysis.

The proposed project consists of a series of tutorials designed to enable students to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired during the courses devoted to natural risks and hazards (the Advanced Course on Natural Risks and Hazards and the Risk Analysis and Vulnerability Courses, Master programme FGSE).

The possibility for students to choose optional courses has the effect of producing a great deal of rigour in their mastery of specialised software (data processing, programming, modelling, etc.). However, the topics covered in the above-mentioned courses require a good knowledge of computers if they are to be tackled in practice. The time allocated in the study plan to the exercise sessions does not allow for the necessary levelling and some students are quickly overwhelmed by the complexity of the tasks required.

In order for students to be able to focus on the final aims of the courses (hazard and risk mapping, vulnerability analysis and assessment of risk reduction options), it is essential that the course is taught in a way that allows students to focus on the final aims of the courses (hazard and risk mapping, vulnerability analysis and assessment of risk reduction options);duction variants), it is necessary to provide them with tools that enable them to carry out the required tasks easily, while verifying that they have acquired the theoretical knowledge.

This request is based on the experience of the undersigned, who has been actively involved in developing content for the CVS courses « Dealing with Natural Hazards » and « e-scenario » courses, as well as in the « Risques hydrologiques et aménagements » course at EPFL. For the last two courses mentioned, prototypes along the lines of the proposal already exist.

Many students have been asking for years for more of a link between the thematic aspects of the course and the reality of civil society. Often, the very strongly oriented « Ex Cathedra » learning at bachelor's level loses sight of the interests of the théories taught and their applicabilityé. 

There is a need for students to acquire useful skills, as suggested by Unil's strategy. In this context, certain courses should be at least partially developed along these lines.

There is a need for new pedagogical approaches in order to have greater diversity in this area in the faculty, so that students' curricula are more complete. There is also a need to teach in a different way, one that is rooted in reality, and to learn the mechanisms of organisational behaviour through a vet and through interaction and discussion.

In 2007, a formal agreement was signed between the University of Lausanne, Department of Oriental Languages and Civilisations and the University of Kathmandu, Center of Buddhist Studies (CBS). As part of this agreement, we are putting a Buddhist philosophy course from the Center of Buddhist Studies online. This is a course on the Madhyamika (the Middle Way) given in 3 sessions a week, each lasting two hours;ances of 2 hours each during the autumn-winter semester 2006 by a Buddhist philosophy teacher (khenpo) from a Tibetan monastic college. This course is recorded by a CBS team. It consists of 42 lessons of around 2 hours each, giving a total recording time of approximately 84 hours. These videos have been processed and are available on Moodle. They are accompanied by the French text discussed by the speaker, as well as its transcription into English.