What’s the best way to structure a course? While teachers generally focus on content and learning objectives, students tend to be primarily interested in what is relevant for the exam. On Friday, 18 November, the Ulm University “2022 Day of Teaching” provided information (beginning at 10:00 am) on how the two can ideally be combined. The focus was on competence-oriented testing and the question of how to perfectly coordinate teaching material, teaching methods and exams. The event was held in a hybrid format, both on campus in the research building N27 as well as online via Zoom.
“We are looking forward to many interesting contributions, discussions, impulses and ideas with which we can make university teaching even more attractive and more skills-oriented”, related Professor Olga Pollatos. The vice president for teaching at Ulm University hosted the event, in cooperation with the Centre for Teaching Development (Zentrum für Lehrentwicklung, ZLE). At the 2022 Day of Teaching, which was held this year for the sixth time, the vice president also presented a new funding opportunity: the so-called “teaching incubator”. Lecturers at Ulm University can apply for funding within the scope of the “teaching incubator” in order to design, implement and evaluate new teaching projects.
The keynote lecture on the topic of competence-oriented exams was given by Professor Niclas Schaper, head of the Centre for Teacher Training and Education Research and as well as the Higher Education Development Office at Paderborn University. In his keynote lecture, Schaper presented “teaching to the test” approaches. How can contents be prepared in a way that is suitable for the exam? In what way can exams be designed to encourage learning? What are the special challenges presented by digital exams?
From chemistry apps to study group locators and ultrasound simulators
The keynote lecture was followed by six impulse lectures on examples of good practice as well as lighthouse projects from the areas of university teaching and testing practice, including medical training. These included, for instance, using acting patients to train physicians’ communication skills. A biochemistry project was also presented, which examines the extent to which exam questions are suitable for learning and encourage learning success. Another lecture was on an augmented reality-based simulator for medical ultrasound examinations. This simulator can be used to train hand-eye coordination as well as to monitor learning objectives. Working on the basis of AR, the SuprAR app helps chemistry students by enabling them to zoom into the molecular 3D structure of chemical compounds. A lecture from the field of physics demonstrated that writing scientific review articles is not only a good learning exercise, but also a good testing format. What made this year unique was that the students themselves actively contributed to the Day of Teaching with their own projects, as demonstrated by an initiative for reducing learning deficits, which includes a study group locator on Moodle with tips and tricks for proper learning.
The Day of Teaching was designed as a hybrid event, held on campus in the research building N27 and simultaneously broadcast live via Zoom. Everyone who was interested in the development of university-level education was invited to attend. Participation was free of charge.
More information: Dr. Tatjana Spaeth, Zentrum für Lehrentwicklung, E-Mail: tatjana.spaeth(at)uni-ulm.de
Text and mediacontact: Andrea Weber-Tuckermann
Translation: Kate Gaugler