Developing a mission statement for teaching together

All teachers, students and those involved in teaching were invited to participate in the Learning Day 2019, which this year had the motto "Developing the Teaching Mission Statement Together". The Learning Day 2019 is to be understood as one component in the context of an extensive internal working and discussion process. The results from the event will be fed into this process.

As in previous years, the Learning Day was organised by the DLS department.

>> DOWNLOAD of the documentation (PDF)

The motto of the Learning Day 2017 was "Accompanying learning - promoting academic success". The Vice President for Research and Development Prof. Dr. Steven Lambeck welcomed the participating teachers and students. Andrea Welger (Head of Services Teaching and Studies) and Hans-Martin Pohl (Deputy Head of Services Teaching and Studies, University Didactics) took over the moderation.

During the TDL 2017, the first certificates "Professional Teaching Competence for Higher Education" were awarded. The multi-semester, modular certificate programme has been part of the continuing education programme for university teachers since 2016 and promotes the competences needed for high-quality teaching. As part of the Learning Day, the certificate was awarded to Myriam Braun-Münker and Ramona Hülsmann as the first graduates of the complete certificate programme.

Learning support and the promotion of academic success have many different faces: didactics and learning methods, counselling and support complement each other. As an introduction to the content, there were four short impulses with different focal points from different subject areas. Concepts for the introductory phase of studies and the acquisition of competencies were presented, which served as points of contact in the subsequent interaction programme.

Prof. Dr. Kreiker presented his approach to learning support for students. The focus is primarily on the learning time that students spend outside of the actual course. With the help of systematically thought-out digital learning materials and support from fellow students, whom he supervises on an ongoing basis, students are better able to "stay on the ball" during the semester. Orientation, self-reflection and commitment were central keywords in his considerations.

Prof. Dr. Janssen presented the mentoring programme for Bachelor students in the first two semesters. A special feature is that it is student mentoring, carried out by students for students. From orientation assistance for life as a student to subject-related help and social activities, the student mentors are there to help and advise their mentees.

"IntTIME", introduced by Vera Karner and Halina Kirsch, combines the organisation of support for international students and students with a migration background, the student tutorials, the implementation of the offers at the department, the mentoring programme for first-semester students and the evaluation of these offers. It is mainly carried out by students who are accompanied by the faculty and fill "IntTIME" with life in the team.

Prof. Dr. Huth has designed a fictitious and yet very realistic company for his Master's students, in which students can learn logistical processes by experiencing them. All communication, work and documentation processes are handled as in a real company with all the possible success factors, but also challenges and stumbling blocks. This enables very direct learning experiences on an almost real case.

The possibilities presented for successful support of learning and successful promotion of academic success served as a basis for further joint work: the central aspects from the examples were analysed by all participants in working groups, further thought was given to them and their potentials as well as limitations were worked out. It turned out that there are often similar challenges across disciplines and that good approaches can be adapted.

For the exciting final discussion, the initiators were available to answer questions from the plenary. Wishes for improvement in the accompaniment of learning were also expressed:

• More information for prospective students and students regarding
  requirements in the study programme.
• Involve students more in the design and development of study programmes
  
• More organised exchange opportunities for teachers

Download documentation (tdl2017.pdf 13 MB)

The motto of the 2016 Learning Day was "Learn as it suits you". The Vice President for Teaching and Learning, Prof. Dr. Kathrin Becker-Schwarze, welcomed the participating teachers and students and emphasised the importance of a joint forum for making successful teaching visible. Andrea Welger (Head of Services Teaching and Studies) took over the moderation.

For the warm-up, participants' preferred learning settings were collected under the co-moderation of Hans-Martin Pohl (Deputy Head of the Department of Teaching & Learning Services, University Didactics). With the focus on the question "...how does it fit for you?", the contributions were visualised on a display wall in the form of clouds. Later, the terms served as the basis for detailed discussions on opportunities, risks, goals and implementation of such learning scenarios.

Louisa Page (Department of Oecotrophology) presented the blended learning module "Innovative Product Development" in her keynote speech. The participants gained exciting insights into the conception, planning and implementation of the internationally oriented module. The lecture underlined that a laboratory setting as well as a "real" project assignment are important to promote practice-oriented vocational qualification with the help of the electronic learning platform.

Dr Annikka Zurwehme (Department of Food Technology) reported "On trying to create learning spaces!" She showed a variety of ways to accompany students in face-to-face as well as online learning, focusing on the goal of a common understanding about content and implementation, but also about aspects such as attitudes, values and learning needs. Finally, she presented her ideas for discussion by all those present.

Natalie Kiesler (Department of Applied Computer Science) first highlighted didactic considerations for blended learning in her keynote speech. Using a good practice example, she described her experiences in creating learning videos and presented her concept for online learning units. Opportunities and challenges were discussed in an open question and answer session.

In his keynote speech, Hans-Martin Pohl introduced the idea of research-based learning. With a view to the newly created laboratory complex of the Department of Applied Computer Science, he showed how new learning spaces and forms of learning can be created through successful infrastructure planning. In particular, interdisciplinary learning on research projects in flexible didactic scenarios is possible here.

In the following joint working phase, the preferred learning scenarios collected at the beginning were discussed and analysed in groups. The participants recorded goals, ideas for implementation, opportunities and risks in writing. A buffet with cold drinks, coffee and cake was provided to support motivation and concentration. A summary presentation of the results rounded off the day of learning.

Download documentation (tdl2016.pdf 2 MB)

The motto of the Learning Day 2015 was "Making good teaching visible". The Vice President for Teaching and Learning, Prof. Dr. Kathrin Becker-Schwarze, welcomed the participants and, in a greeting from the Presidential Board, focused on the importance of teaching and the need to make it visible both internally and externally.

In a warm-up, criteria for "good teaching" were sought under the moderation of Andrea Welger (Head of Services Teaching and Studies) and Hans-Martin Pohl (University Didactics). The students, lecturers and staff of Fulda University of Applied Sciences present took an active and creative part in the debate, so that the diversity of demands on good teaching became visible.

In an impulse lecture, Prof. Dr. Jan Ulrich Hense from the Justus Liebig University of Giessen showed what quality demands can be made on teaching. In his interactive lecture, he gave the interested participants tips for teaching that promotes learning and emphasised the need for innovation in teaching.

The focus of the event was the presentation of innovative teaching ideas from the departments. At the interactive presentation stands, the actors - students and teachers - were interviewed and those present were able to engage in conversation with them. In moderated small groups, the participants discussed the transferability to other degree programmes and the continuation of the idea impulses. The Learning Day concluded with the collection of ideas for promoting an environment conducive to teaching innovation at Fulda University of Applied Sciences.

The following teaching ideas (in alphabetical order) presented themselves in the attractively designed room 10/001:

• Applied Team Dynamics (3rd place)
• FiBLU Project (1st place)
• Health Promoting University
• Seminar on Qualitative Social Research
• Inverted Classroom "Media Design
• Problem Solving and Heuristics (2nd place)
• Cooperation Health Management
• Self-learning support

The participants chose the most exciting topics. The winners will be rewarded with the creation of a professional presentation video each.

Download documentation (tdl2015.pdf 1.4 MB)