Botho University’s partnership with Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Germany’s largest state owned co-operative university for developing Knowledgeable, Collaborative, Positive and Confident students at Botho University as part of our Botho Graduate Profile (BGP).
What is the Dual Study Learning model?
Botho University’s Dual Study Learning model is an innovative work-based learning model adopted by our Faculty of Hospitality and Sustainable Tourism as far back as 2021. The Dual Study model mandates that all students of this Faculty spend half their semester actively working at an industry partner and the other half of their semester is spent in class, thus linking academic content with actual work experience.
This model has been developed by Botho University by benchmarking with our international partner Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Germany. DHBW is the first higher education institution in Germany to integrate academic studies with workplace training. By actively implementing the Dual Study Model, Botho University is embarking on an ambitious agenda to ensure our students are accumulating practical experience while studying.
Currently the Dual Study Learning model was implemented only in the Faculty of Hospitality and Sustainable Tourism available at our Botswana campus. However plans are underway to roll it out to other Faculties soon to reap the benefits of this work integrated learning approach for all students.
Botho University Dual Study Learning Model is an excellent example of our focus on employability backed up by solid evidence that we are already miles ahead in implementing some of these models as part of the education we offer. It has also been commended and featured by the IFC Vitae on their global channel. IFC is the International Finance Corporation, the financial arm of The World Bank in an international video. The video is available publicly on their official YouTube channel HERE
How is the Dual Study Learning Model implemented at Botho University?
How was Botho University’s academic team equipped to deliver the Dual Study Learning Model?
Botho University, Botswana and the Duale Hochschule Baden Württemberg (DHBW) in Lörrach, Germany developed a Technology Integrated Module for Sustainable Tourism Education: Synergizing Expertise from Botswana and Germany. The Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) is the first state dual, i.e. practice-integrated, university in Germany.
It was founded on March 1, 2009 and continues the dual model of the former Baden-Württemberg Cooperative Education Academy, which has been successful for over 40 years. The collaboration aims to draw on the respective expertise of Botho University, Botswana and the DHBW Lörrach to create joint, market relevant curricula content for sustainable tourism education. This module will become a regular part of the tourism curricula in both countries, using innovative digital technologies, and involving work on real life Community Based Tourism (CBT) projects in Botswana and Germany. Module delivery required that staff and students from both universities spend a one-week period abroad at the partner university each year. Five Botho University staff visited Germany from the 2nd to 10th of April 2022 and again from the 7th-14th October 2023. In the same vein, five DHBW Germany staff members visited Botswana from the 10th – 17th of July 2022.
As part of student learning, the universities, with the assistance from Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) and the Community Based Natural Resource Management department, chose to work with two communities, one of which is Malaka Conservation Trust in Botswana. The community will benefit from the expertise of the two universities in the form of developmental ideas as well as research. Botho University and DHBW are co-teaching the module “Destination Management ” using the Community projects as live case studies.
Who are Botho University Industry Partners for the Dual Study Learning Model?
Botho University would like to thank the ever increasing list of industry partners for our Dual Study Model currently in place for students of Faculty of Hospitality and Sustainable Tourism currently offered at our Botswana campus.
Dual Study Model Industry Partners:
How have Botho University students become globally competitive as a result of the Dual Study Learning Model?
Based on industry feedback received from our Industry Reference Forum (IRF), it was emphasized early on that the Faculty of Hospitality and Sustainable Tourism will need to work closely with the industry to deliver hands-on training and produce students who have the relevant skills required by employers. This is because Faculty cannot operate in isolation and only based on classroom teaching and delivery. As a result, the Dual Study Learning Model has been developed and deployed and the benefits are immense. Students from the first year are immersed in industry learning by doing and are immediately able to appreciate the application of their conceptual knowledge. They can establish the skills needed for success and get feedback from the industry on the efforts required to inculcate such skills. From an industry perspective, this is an opportunity for them to invest in future skilled staff and human capacity development. Industry’s cooperation with Botho University ensures that the gap between skills is addressed by bringing them on board as equal partners in employability development. The benefits are obvious and immense as by the time students graduate they already have 2 years of solid work experience with a relevant employer as part of their program of study.
Students from both institutions namely Botho University Botswana and DHBW, Germany that are involved in the sustainable tourism module are actively involved in collecting data to appreciate the organisational structure, operations, success, and challenges faced by the communities as part of their joint research. The students gain insights into the characteristics, opportunities, as well as constraints facing community-based projects in their counterpart’s country and work together to find suitable solutions. In addition to academic and vocational learning, this kind of cooperation improves soft skills such as intercultural competence, global leadership, and teamwork.
Botho University students have even managed to travel to our partner DHBW, Germany as part of this partnership.
Botho University on its part has hosted German students from DHBW in Botswana providing them an appreciation of the environment, an opportunity to interact with out students and also visit the local communities as part of their research.
