What constitutes good teaching? What makes teaching successful? How can I become an expert at imparting knowledge? The “Master Nuggets” courses for successful teaching at the School of Advanced Professional Studies (SAPS) provide answers to these questions. The compact, online-based education courses were developed by Tina Seufert, a professor for teaching and learning research at Ulm University. The continuing education offer is subject to a fee and is aimed at all interested parties who are involved in teaching and continuing education in a professional context, including members of Ulm University.
The focus of the “Master Nuggets” programme is on basic mechanisms of learning and teaching, in the context of both analogous and digital learning. “In particular, this programme is about the effective and sustainable delivery of teaching material as well as maintaining a high level of curiosity and motivation among students”, explains Dr Gabriele Gröger, president of the SAPS. Four different “nuggets” can be studied: (1) What is teaching? (2) What makes a successful teacher? (3) How do I become a successful teacher? (4) Do I teach differently when I use digital media? Each module entails an estimated workload of 25 to 30 hours and a fee of 230 euros. One ECTS credit is awarded for each completed module. The courses can be booked individually, but they can also be combined.
“This compact format is ideal for trying out something new. But the modules can also be used to earn a university certificate”, explains Professor Seufert. This is possible with the new master’s degree programme “Instructional Design”, for example, which is scheduled to begin in the 2021 summer semester and is currently awaiting approval from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, MWK). The “Master Nuggets for Successful Teaching” were developed within the context of this new programme and are imbedded within it in terms of content. “The nuggets are a good opportunity to try something out, since they don’t require that much effort” says Gröger. And what awaits the course participants? They will be learning online, which means flexibility in terms of time and location. The teaching material is diverse. Advantages include a personal kick-off seminar, office hours for individual support, and individual feedback. The four educational training courses start every eight weeks and the registration deadline is 7 days before the respective start date. It all gets started on 20 October from 6:00pm to 8:00 pm with the module (1) “What is teaching?” (Registration until 13 October). Click here for more information on the programme and registration deadlines.
Background:
The planned part-time master’s degree programme “Instructional Design”, which will be starting in the 2021 summer semester, addresses all aspects of teaching and learning through media instruction. The focus is on designing concepts for continuing education and online learning. The programme combines all of the necessary skills from the fields of psychology, education, computer science, economics, statistics and research methods.
Text and media contact: Andrea Weber-Tuckermann