umagazine issue 18 60 Launching a New Course to Support Research Although formally outside the BRICS Network University, the University of Macau has made decisive steps towards promoting BRICS-related research and education. In the spring semester 2016/2017, a team of academics from the UM Faculty of Law formed a research circle, ‘The Global Governance Debate and the BRICS Countries’, consisting of Rostam J Neuwirth (full professor), Alexandr Svetlicinii (assistant professor), and Denis De Castro Halis(senior instructor). Jointly, they have developed Advanced Issues of International Trade Law: Business Law in the BRICS Countries, a course for master’s students dedicated to legal aspects of doing business in the BRICS countries. The new course featured several innovative teaching and learning methods. First, the course was co-taught by a team of three instructors who were present in the classroom at the same time in order to stimulate discussion and complement each other’s expertise on the laws of particular BRICS countries. The instructors took advantage of various educational technologies supported by the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement (CTLE), including UMMoodle and PollEverywhere. The class was conveniently hosted in one of the CTLE Interactive Learning Spaces – classroom equipped with audio and video (AV) recording. The AV materials generated by the course allowed it to be offered in a blended learning format where the students watch short video lectures before each class and then come prepared for a more in-depth discussion. While the instructors were team teaching, the students were team learning also. Instead of a conventional final examination, the grading of the course was based on the result of a group project, which required students to engage in collaborative legal research. The students were organised in groups of five (each member representing one of the BRICS nations) and worked on various issues of legal cooperation. Each team prepared a colourful presentation summarising the experiences and challenges of each BRICS country in various legal
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