The impact of the pandemic on the education system at DKU on the example of the IWRM MA program

The pandemic significantly affected the education system in Kazakhstan and our university is no exception: it was necessary to adapt to the new reality in a non-stop mode.

We present to you a brief description of the report on the implementation of innovative measures and practices on the example of the Master's program «Integrated Water Resources Management» (IWRM) and the UNESCO Chair on Water Resources Management in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

New formats:

• The COVID-19 outbreak primarily affected the format of work: the transition to online mode allowed us to optimize both educational programs and our activities in the field of research and capacity building.

• We were greatly helped by the Moodle educational platform-an electronic course management system that allows interacting with a teacher at a convenient time for a student.

• Also, 2 additional forms were introduced — models of inverted and synchronous learning.

• The students ' field research was transferred to a more effective format. The new objects of research and the format of their study in small groups made it possible to conduct excursions in compliance with all sanitary safety standards.

• For the effective conduct of exams, online control has been introduced-a system for verifying the identity and confirming the results of passing online exams.

In turn, the team of the UNESCO Department of Water Resources Management at DKU was able to implement most of the planned activities for 2020−2021, while adjusting only the format of project implementation.

You can find out more by downloading the report from the link
http://academic-waters.org/media/filer_public/d5/c1/d5c1c93d-1d08−4e26−8b06−885dfa539c1d/the_impacts_of_the_pandemic_dku_case_study.pdf