News and Reports
Project TecCOMFrame is Off to a Good Start
tekom Europe – Europe’s largest professional association for Technical Communication – gathered university representatives from eight different European countries in Stuttgart to start the EU-funded project TecCOMFrame.
The project is part of the Erasmus+ program in the area of Strategic Partnerships KA2: Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices. The project consortium aims to develop standard curricula based on a common academic qualification and a competence framework – the TecCOMFrame.
Getting started
The purpose of the first project meeting was to get to know each other, to find common ground as well as the understanding which deliverables are to be developed as part of this three-year project, and also to familiarize the group with the EU program in terms of the administrative and financial aspects.
The first day started with the introduction of each partner. It was important to learn about the status quo of academic education in the field of Technical Communication in each country. Different approaches have been used to integrate TC in university programs. Part of the afternoon session was also spent learning about the requirements and guidelines set by the EU with respect to the project realization. For most of the partners, as well as the coordinator, this is their first time being involved in a project of this kind. The first day concluded with a dinner, where the partners had the chance to get to know each other better.
Defining Charecteristics of Academic Competences and a Methodical Procedure
The second day of the meeting was dedicated to the actual work on the first intellectual output, a draft version of the TecCOMFrame. First, Daniela Straub gave an introduction to the tekom Competence Framework for Technical Communication, a practically-oriented framework developed over the past years that could serve as a basis for the academic framework. The first task, then, for the project consortium was to brainstorm the distinguishing elements between a practically-oriented framework and an academic framework. In the next step, in order to develop a common academic competence framework, a methodical procedure must still be defined. Again, we had lively discussions benefiting from the different experiences and perspectives that each partner contributed.
After all was said and done, the meeting was truly enriching for all partners. It was great to see how much knowledge exists within the group and that sharing this knowledge will be beneficial for the project, helping us to develop great results. We will continue our discussions during our next meeting, which will take place in Stuttgart on December 3 – 4, 2015.
If you have any questions about the project, please contact Anke Neytchev (project coordination) at a.neytchev(at)tekom.de or Daniela Straub (content) at d.straub(at)tekom.de.
