Abstract

As the Uzbek nation undergoes significant socio-political and educational reforms, there is a growing interest in pedagogical models that foster critical thinking, civic engagement, and student agency. One of the core modules, which are given to Foundation level students at Westminster International University in Tashkent is Critical Thinking and Citizenship module. This module is delivered exclusively through seminars and aims to develop foundation students’ competencies as active and informed global citizens, as it is included community engagement component, where students are trying to identify and solve problems in local communities and based on design thinking approach. The module is closely tied with targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The principal teaching methodology for this module is Project-Based Learning (PBL). Students engage in hands-on projects requiring collaboration, communication, information analysis, and problem-solving for community issues, followed by recommendations to stakeholders. Another core teaching approach integrated into the module is the Socratic Method which fostering deep inquiry. Students formulate questions, analyse answers, participate actively by offering diverse perspectives, debate, argue, and rebut (Conor, 2022).

One more key approach in the module’s development is Design Thinking, which involves five elements: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test (Singh, 2023). Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative process that builds essential problem-solving skills in students by emphasizing empathy, creativity, and real-world application. It shifts education from rote learning to active, collaborative problem-solving, preparing students for complex challenges. Through this approach, students learn to understand users’ needs, analyse problems from multiple perspectives, clearly define issues, generate ideas, critically evaluate solutions, and select the most suitable ones. It is quite innovative approach in teaching skills-based seminars, which not widely used by local academicians and usually considered being not applicable outside of engineering studies.

For this conference I am presenting research which adopts a qualitative case study approach, focusing on the experiences of instructors, students, and stakeholders involved in an active citizenship module at Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT). Through semi-structured interviews, the study explores the perceptions of these key actors regarding the module's implementation. In addition to interviews, I review students’ feedback on the module and analyze their final products. This research contributes to the broader discourse on educational transfer and contextualization, offering critical insights for curriculum developers, policymakers, and international educators seeking to implement transformative pedagogies in culturally distinctive environments.