The "International Project ( IPC)" was designed as an innovative and international teaching project for students at the university level. Referring to the constructivist paradigm of learning, the students work in international groups and carry out common research projects. Therefore the didactic conception enhances autonomy and one’s own initiative. The students work as autonomously as possible. This is a learning process for the students that is enhanced by support and guidance from the instructors. Each participating university has at least one native speaking professor and a student tutor or graduate assistant available for online coaching and communication during the project. Thanks to the combination of local meetings at the universities and the online presence, the students can be assisted whenever needed.  

There are three main learning objectives for the project: project competence, Internet competence, and professional expertise. Goals of the project are for students to develop communicative competence in an international setting using Web 2.0 tools, to build positive attitudes toward people of other countries, and to compare and contrast topics in the study of education pertaining to curriculum and teaching methods. Communicative competence includes working in a team, being proactive and communicating in an international group, and making working plans and time schedules for the group’s work. Internet competence includes using modern information technology and Web tools such as Internet networks, weblogs, wikis, discussion boards, Skype, Doodle, chat rooms, and online survey utilities. Finally, we want students to gain expertise concerning their study curriculum to develop professional expertise, and to develop and prove hypotheses. Cultivating professional expertise includes developing an understanding of cultural differences and educational systems in other countries. The comparative view of instruction methods, curriculum, childhood activities, etc., gives the students a wider perspective and provides a better understanding of the teaching and learning processes at schools in different places.

An IPC project consists of three phases. In phase one the students introduce themselves in the discussion boards and they create a personal user page. They first contact their international partners through the discussion board, chats, and blogs. In this phase the professors may provide some general readings and make suggestions for the preparation of the particular subjects of the project. In phase two the students are ready to choose a topic and to form online working groups. They now continue searching for and reading basic and special literature concerning the chosen topic. After this they develop a hypothesis for their research question, they work on a draft of a research design (e.g., questionnaires, interviews), and prepare their investigation. Phase three includes processing of the surveys and interviews (data collection) and the interpretation and evaluation of the collected data. A main task of this phase is to create a group presentation with the research results that must be published on line in the chosen IPC Web site. Presentations of the results take place at each university during the students’ class time.