"CROSSCUT stands for Cross-curricular Teaching. The CROSSCUT project is a European project funded by the ERASMUS+ programme which aims at supporting secondary level teachers’ professional development by training them to adopt cross-curricular teaching approach, in order to enhance the acquisition of key competences by students. More specifically, it aims to:-To study cross-curricular teaching practices within participating countries and identify success factors and obstacles to their implementation,-To define the skills needed by teachers to develop relevant cross-curricular teaching practices,-To design and develop an online training platform,-To create a community of practitioners on interdisciplinary practices,-To make recommendations for the effective implementation of cross-curricular teaching.Coordinated by CIEP, this project implemented with 7 partners including teacher training and educational research institutions specialising in cross-curricular teaching and e-learning, in six European countries: -Centre international d'études pédagogiques, France-CICERO Learning from the University of Helsinki, Finland-French Institute of Education, France -Laboratory for Coherent Education and Learning (University College Lillebaelt, University College South Denmark and University of Southern Denmark), Denmark-Educational Research Institute, Poland-The Institute of Education of the University of Minho, Portugal-The Open University, Portugal-The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, NorwayThis project was born in the context of the discussions about transversal key competences, the promotion of innovative pedagogical practices and support for the development of qualitative teacher training. Indeed, at the European level, eight transversal key competences for lifelong learning, representing ""a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes[...] necessary for all individuals for personal fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social integration and employment"" were defined in 2006 and updated in 2018. Within the European Union, several countries have reformed their curricula in order to develop cross-curricular teaching and to promote the learning of these transversal competences through several subjects. The development of curricula and pedagogical approaches that go beyond traditional disciplinary configurations as well as the priority given to the acquisition of transversal competences imply in particular an evolution of teaching practices. In-service training, in particular, should help teachers to go beyond the boundaries of traditional subjects by taking part in collective projects and developing different learning approaches and strategies, based in particular on more active student participation. To achieve its objectives, the CROSSCUT project was organised in 4 consecutive steps. First, a situational survey was conducted to identify cross-curricular teaching practices that were proven effective in 26 selected secondary schools, and to identify success factors such as obstacles to the implementation of these practices, at both classroom and school level. The results of this study led to the definition of the most important skills to be acquired for the implementation of a cross-curricular teaching for teachers and school leaders. A reference framework compiling all the competences described in knowledge, attitudes and skills has been produced. Subsequently, a training programme for teachers and, to a lesser extent, school heads, was created and online training modules developed. They are accessible on an open, digital platform in English, giving access to resources and a professional community dedicated to cross-curricular teaching. The final version of the online training is available at the following address: https://crosscut.uab.pt. Finally, recommendations for political authorities and education stakeholders were developed on the implementation of effective interdisciplinary practices and the need to train teachers in these approaches."

"For the detailed description of the Project Summary:see uploaded PDF ""2. Project Summary""!MOOQ Project Summary:MOOQ is the European Alliance for the Quality of Massive Open Online Courses, called MOOCs, coordinated by the Open University of the Netherlands under the leadership of Dr. Christian M. Stracke, ICDE Chair in OER and Associate Professor for Open Education. The vision of MOOQ is to improve the quality of MOOCs leading to a new era of learning experiences.MOOQ’s mission is to develop a Quality Reference Framework (QRF) as key result for the adoption, the design, the delivery and the evaluation of MOOCs in order to empower MOOC designers, facilitators and providers for the benefit of the learners.The main goal of MOOQ is therefore the development and the integration of quality approaches, new pedagogies and organisational mechanisms into MOOCs with a strong focus on the learning processes, methodologies and assessments.To foster high quality Open Education and Learning in Europe and worldwide, MOOQ facilitates a new Q-generation of MOOCs that are designed, organized and tested as qMOOCs. This is realized in close collaboration with all interested partners and stakeholders in Europe and beyond. MOOQ has achieved huge impact at the local, regional, European and international levels: MOOQ could reach out to more than 100,000 MOOC learners, designers, facilitators and providers through the MOOQ dissemination and exploitation activities. In addition, in close cooperation with European and international institutions and associations, MOOQ could involve in the QRF finalization more than 10,000 MOOC learners, designers, facilitators and providers through the Global MOOC Quality Survey, the MOOQ presentations and workshops at regional, European and international conferences as well as communication and collaboration in traditional channels and social media.Research Context, Research Objectives and Research Partners:The growing discourse and increasing volume of research on the quality of open online education (including MOOCs) was the main motivation for the conceptualization and the inception of the MOOQ initiative in 2015. The number of people who signed up for MOOCs in 2015 exceeded 35 million, which doubled the initial estimated 17 million for that year (Shah, 2015b). Meta-analysis of the MOOC Research Initiative (MRI) (Gašević et al., 2014) identified five commonly research themes with student engagement and learning success as the main theme above the other four research themes. Hence, the core vision and mission of the MOOQ project is to develop a Quality Reference Framework (QRF) to improve the design, evaluation and quality of MOOCs.The five participating partners of the MOOQ initiative and their as research principals are: 1.Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL) as project coordinator under leadership of Dr. Christian M. Stracke; 2.Universidade Aberta (UAb); 3.Hellenic Open University (HOU); 4.National Quality Infrastructure System (NQIS) 5.Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon (ENS) Research Trajectory of the MOOQ Project: Activities and Outcomes:Following are the four main project activities and outcomes:1. Conceptualization of a research framework to capture and to analyse MOOC design patterns and best practices by desktop research and literature review plus two additional and voluntary main research instruments: i) The Global MOOC Quality Survey (GMQS) and ii) Semi-structured interviews.Outcomes: Research Framework (O1) summarizing and analysing the desktop research and literature review.Peer-reviewed scientific publications and presentations on results of the Global MOOC Quality Survey (GMQS) and the semi-structured interviews.2. Design and development of the QRF based on the findings of the GMQS and the semi-structured interviews as well as workshops, consultations and collaborations worldwide. Outcome: The Quality Reference Framework (QRF) (O2) consists of three dimensions and contains in addition the QRF Key Quality Indicators for MOOC experts and the QRF Quality Checklist for MOOC beginners for the easy usage and adaptation of the QRF.3. Design and development of two pilot MOOCs using the QRF as a guiding framework. Outcome: Two MOOCs (one xMOOC and one cMOOC) (O3) were developed using and testing the QRF. 4. Develop the Pre-standard ""European MOOC Quality Framework"":Outcome: MOOQ has established work groups consisting of educators, policy makers, researchers, learners and standardisation experts and the collaborative platform for consultation purposes. Finally, the Pre-standard ""European MOOC Quality Framework"" (O4) was developed and submitted to the Standardization Bodies CEN and ISO for approval as European and international standard."