Student success at the heart of the University of Bordeaux's project

Today's more independent students are looking for the right balance between their studies, their social life and their well-being. They want to be able to give meaning to their studies and enjoy rich human and professional experiences. At the same time, they attach increasing importance to diversity, inclusiveness and sustainability in their learning environment. This highly heterogeneous population needs more personalised curricula, 'à la carte' study tracks, more professionally-oriented training, hybrid teaching methods and also more interaction with their professors, as confirmed by a survey carried out in November 2023 among students at the University of Bordeaux. Respondents would like to have a clearer view of available study programmes, a wider choice of 'à la carte' courses, and more individualised monitoring of their undergraduate studies. They also stressed the importance of the link between students and lecturers, the need to recognise their skillsets, particularly those acquired through volunteer work, and called for equivalences between programmes to encourage students to change pathways.

Joëlle Perroton, associate professor of sociology and director of the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Bordeaux, has indeed noticed a change in attitude. "In the past, students would arrive at lectures and listen (often passively) to the professor for two hours, taking notes, and that was that. Today, computers and mobile phones make this a trickier exercise. Yet we still need to keep their attention. We need to find different ways of engaging them, because they're clearly looking for more interaction."
Amélie Gogos Gintrand, a lecturer in personal and family law at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, observes the same phenomenon. "Practices have changed. Students all have computers, but note-taking is still tedious. For a few years now, the principle of the traditional lecture has no longer suited me, particularly for first-year students, who are quite vulnerable. I've decided to reverse the process. I publish the course material online beforehand and during the class, I explain, expand on it and ask questions; this makes it easier to understand the theory and allows for constructive exchanges", she explains. Juliette Passebois-Ducros, associate professor of marketing and communication strategy at the University School of Management, also notes that there is a need for more practice and role-playing.

An ever-changing, adaptable and professional study offer

Opening up curricula to encourage interdisciplinarity and individualise study tracks; connecting programmes to their environment in order to be more in tune with the socio-economic world and better respond to societal and environmental issues; empowering students in order to better prepare them for professional realities - these are the areas of transformation on which teaching teams can build, through their subject roadmaps. "The institution's primary ambition is to offer a personalised range of courses focused on student success. Being able to choose undoubtedly contributes to improving success," explains Pascal Lecroart, Vice-President for education and university life.

This is why, for the past 10 years, the University of Bordeaux has been moving towards a greater professionalisation of its educational offer. The aim is to be in tune with the economic fabric and as close as possible to the needs of those involved, with the development of apprenticeships and vocational Bachelor degrees, the transformation of the University Technical Diploma (from a 2 to a 3-year programme), compulsory internships at Bachelor level, support for entrepreneurship, and so on. "These measures are important factors in attracting students and guaranteeing optimum integration into the workforce. This reinforces the major advantage of a university education, which is its link with research, ensuring that skills are adapted to the challenges facing society and science," confirms the Vice-President.

Educational content in line with environmental and social challenges

Another key challenge for the University of Bordeaux is to train its students in environmental and societal transitions. This commitment has been part of the university's strategic plan for a number of years now, as well as part of its policy on transitions and the overall framework for its study offer. For example, the Faculty of Physical and Sporting Activity Sciences and Techniques has recently set up a teaching unit entitled 'Body, sport and society', which is common to four courses. "Our aim is to enable students to think about the social issues they are sensitive to, and to encourage them to take a step back and look at the relationship between social and sporting issues. To design this teaching unit, we got together and asked ourselves the following questions: what is a sport and physical education student? What do they need to know to work in sport? We looked at the national register of professional qualifications (Répertoire national des certifications professionnelles, RNCP), as well as subjects directly related to the challenges of the profession. The idea behind this teaching unit is also to deconstruct the clichés of teaching focused solely on sport and physical activity", says Cédric Terret, director of the Faculty of Physical and Sporting Activity Sciences and Techniques at the University of Bordeaux.

A more active learning experience

Project-based learning, problem-based learning, challenge-based learning, flipped classrooms, portfolio approaches, authentic teaching situations and gamification are all new so-called active teaching techniques and ways of teaching.

But what exactly are they?

Active teaching refers to a range of teaching methods, all of which have in common the desire to involve students in their own learning. This type of teaching is based on the principle that we learn by doing, a theory that Joëlle Perroton has verified. "Our "lecture and tutorial" format was far too traditional. We urgently needed to change our methods to better capture the attention of our students, interact with them more and offer them more individualised courses. For example, we introduced integrated, themed lectures and tutorials, i.e. a lecture followed immediately afterwards by a tutorial given by the same professor. Students must choose two of the 21 lectures/tutorials on offer. What's more, we now use the project-based learning method, whereby students acquire and apply their knowledge and skills by working for an extended period on an assessable project: a press kit, a podcast, or the organisation of a debate... These participatory techniques mean that students are truly involved in their learning. The feedback has been excellent", she enthuses.

Pascal Lecroart, also a geology lecturer, has experimented with the flipped classroom approach, which alternates distance learning with face-to-face exchanges and activities. "Initially, I wasn't sure whether it would work... but the results have exceeded my expectations and the fears I had at the outset quickly faded away. The face-to-face sessions are active and there is a lot of discussion. The lecturer's role is more dynamic, enriching and, ultimately, rewarding", he points out.  
At the Bordeaux University Institute of Management, Juliette Passebois-Ducros has taken advantage of digitalization to adapt some of her courses to a distance learning format, a method that requires the materials to be made available in advance. "Covid has led us to change our practices and rethink our teaching. I no longer think in terms of the number of hours of tuition I have available, but in terms of the amount of time students have to work on their own. It encourages them to be more independent."
She also notes that the development of digital tools and the upstream integration of resources is transforming the student/teacher relationship and encouraging a certain form of exchange.
Alexis Léculier has been teaching mathematics on the Agen campus for two years. He teaches a wide range of students who are not always keen on the subject. "My aim is to ensure that students understand the value of the tool and can adapt it to their professional context. I get them to work on projects based on industrial problems. The important thing is their reasoning. At the same time, I train them in the use of generative AI so that I can explain to them how to use it wisely. Today, it's essential to get to grips with these new resources. You just have to keep a critical eye on them," he notes.

A framework that supports change

The University of Bordeaux provides its teaching teams with an overall framework to help them transform their training offer. It then provides them with the conditions they need to achieve their objectives. This framework allows the courses to become established and the teams to adjust them, discontinue them if necessary or create new ones, depending on the teaching context and exchanges with their environment. At the end of this period, each course is evaluated.

To carry out this work, teaching teams can benefit from the support of the Teaching and Innovation Support Mission (MAPI), a unique structure dedicated to supporting the pedagogical transformation of lecturer-researchers at the University of Bordeaux. "I'd heard of the concept of pedagogical alignment. But it's difficult to get things moving on my own, which is why the support offered within this framework has been very useful," says Amélie Gogos-Gintrand. With the help of Blandine Masselin, a MAPI educational engineer, the lecturer began by working on her learning objectives. The other challenge was to introduce "criterion-based assessment grids", a methodology that enables qualitative assessment based on precise criteria and indicators for each exercise. "This change in practice takes time and hard work. It forces us to ask ourselves a lot of questions, but it's stimulating and exciting. I have the feeling that I've initiated things that work", says Amélie Gogos-Gintrand with satisfaction. "What's more, the one-year review is very positive. I even have the impression that students are coming to classes more, and the results in the latest exams have been better. It really makes you want to continue", she adds. 

There is no doubt that tomorrow's university education will be even more flexible, personalised and anchored in the reality of the professional workforce and societal challenges. Technological advances and changing economic and social needs will drive these transformations, making higher education within universities more accessible, open to the world, relevant and inclusive. This transformation is well and truly underway at the University of Bordeaux, which is fully playing its role as a pioneer, guide and catalyst for those who join it.