The Experience of Community of Practice in Polytechnic School and its Impact on the Chemical Engineering Courses at the University of Genova

Communities of Practice (CoP), defined as learning groups that have the goal of producing organized and quality knowledge, are recognized nowadays as an effective approach to Faculty Development. At the Polytechnic School of the University of Genova, meetings of the CoP are active since 2017, to favor sharing teaching practices and tools, positive results as well as difficulties and expectations in the experience of teaching. One of the advantages of the CoP model is the cross-communication among the participants from different Courses and Departments. In this framework, the involvement of professors in the CoP led to the share of two experiences, Quiz and Podcast tools and methodology, which were presented during CoP meetings and were then successfully applied in Chemical and Process Engineering Courses. Participants reported that these experiences allowed direct feedback and better involvement of students in class activities and interaction with classmates and with professors. Therefore, in our experience, the CoP model has proven to contribute to the sharing of good practices in teaching Engineering Courses.