HVL teachers think it's a pleasure to work together with ViteMeir
And both see positive aspects of the collaboration that has been in place from the very early stages of the science center.
- I want to work with ViteMeir to be able to contribute to the development of ViteMeir and help create a unique collaboration that can mutually strengthen teacher education and ViteMeir, says Linda Moen Rebni.
She is a lecturer in education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in Sogndal, and has a 20% permanent position at ViteMeir.
- So far, it's been a pleasure to work with ViteMeir. They are forward-thinking and generous people who think all ideas are good. I'm looking forward to continuing," says Moen Rebni.
In addition to a close collaboration, they have an agreement that stipulates that HVL will allocate two 20% positions to work with the science center, with the aim of good interaction. The two positions are Linda and Kristin Myhra Sæterdal.
- The collaboration with ViteMeir has given me a fantastic opportunity to develop as a knowledge communicator in a vibrant environment that is not afraid to take on new challenges," says Myhra Sæterdal.
HVL gets an owner's license
HVL and Vitemeir have had a collaboration agreement since 2019, and the overall purpose is to promote the development of teaching and dissemination within kindergarten and primary school teachers, and the technical-scientific education programs.
- "One important aspect of our efforts in the first phase is that the university college is closely involved in the development of a center that will have a major impact on the development of our educational programs in terms of content and dissemination," says Stein Joar Hegland, professor at the Department of Environmental and Natural Sciences.
He believes that such a collaboration has several good benefits for both parties, including the fact that HVL gains a completely different sense of ownership and influence than simply providing a little professional advice from time to time.
- That's why it's so important to have Linda and Kristin and many more people involved in the specific development work, because then there's a greater chance that it will be relevant to HVL as well," says Hegland.
Better with collaboration than pure operating grants
Prorector for Education Bjørg Kristin Selvik says that HVL has something academic to add, and HVL believes that such a collaboration with two sub-positions is more fruitful than a pure operating grant
- "We've spent money on letting our people be involved in building the center, and the idea behind this was to create a good link between ViteMeir and HVL so that when the center is up and running it will be known to us, and there will be a greater chance that we will use it actively in our education and other work," she says.
Stein Joar Hegland says that quality assurance of the academic content is important, and he says that HVL is one of the most important driving forces behind the creation of a science center at all.
- For example, a hydropower installation that Kristin is currently working on. She is gathering knowledge from the various academic environments to be able to say something about the environmental consequences of such energy extraction. This is where HVL's academic environments play an important role for ViteMeir," says Hegland.
He also says that it will have an impact on teacher training.
- I believe that HVL can use ViteMeir very actively to develop even better teachers," says Hegland.
Kristin Myhra Sæterdal will also work to ensure that students at HVL have the opportunity to use ViteMeir as a new learning area for practice-oriented teaching and as an arena for collecting data for bachelor and master theses.
- The work of creating an area for creative and exploratory mathematics teaching has been particularly exciting and there is no doubt that the collaboration with ViteMeir gives me new ideas that benefit our students," she says.