Page 67 - ILK Research Report 2020

weekly basis to iteratively improve the teaching-learning The conversion of examinations to digital examinations
concepts. Four aspects of digital teaching were focused was supported by self-tests during the semester and a mock
on in particular (Fig. 1). examination, so that content-related and technical chal-
lenges for students and teachers alike could be addressed.
At the beginning of the semester, activities were concen-
trated in the area of teaching and learning. Here, the An important building block for the continuous improve-
activities focused on the digitisation of lecture, exercise ment of teaching, whether digital or analogue, is construc-
and practical course materials as well as the establishment tive feedback from students. This was obtained whenever
of digital communication channels. Exchange between possible through direct teacher-learner discussions, and
students and between students and teachers is essential for selected courses also through digital evaluation ques-
for successful teaching, and various channels were used tionnaires on the learning platform.
for this purpose.

Lectures

Many lecturers used the recording function of PowerPoint met with great response among the students. In addition,
for their lectures, so that they could underlay the lecture lecturers gain an impression of learning progress.
notes with an audio track and also make them available
as a video in the form of a simple PDF document for fur- With the enforced omission of classroom teaching, it was
ther reading. Alternatively, screencast programmes were also possible to test the departure from frontal teach-
used, with which actions in programme windows or on the ing and to encourage students more strongly to study
complete desktop and also audio tracks can be recorded. on their own. Instead of setting up exercises as lecture
Occasionally, people also experimented with interactive events as usual, the principle of the flipped class room
PowerPoint formats, in which different areas of the slides was used. Assignments are made available with one to
are only discussed successively after pressing a button two weeks notice and the exercises are designed purely
and thus individual explanations could also be repeated. as question time/consultation. In addition, communication
There was generally positive feedback for this. channels for comprehension questions were available at
all times via chat rooms and e-mail, which could also be
In order to encourage the students to communicate more used for professional exchange between the students.
actively, supplementary consultations were increasingly Afterwards, sample solutions to the exercises were pro-
offered in the course of the semester in addition to lec- vided to help students who were unable to participate
ture videos, in which questions could be asked about the in the consultations or were disadvantaged due to lan-
material from the previous weeks. In general, self-tests guage barriers.

Examinations

For the majority of the courses, digital examinations were instead of focusing on transfer knowledge – as is usual
carried out on newly installed instances of the central in face-to-face examinations – the examination must be
learning platform. Due to the new framework conditions, more competence-oriented. As expected, the preparation
the questions had to be conceptually redesigned. Re- effort is immense due to the changeover, but in addition
stricting the use of aids was virtually impossible. The ex- to the typical multiple-choice questions, there are also task
amination questions were designed in such a way that formats available with which solutions to mathematical
in principle all aids – as open books – are available. This problems can be tested and even consequential errors
is also where the potential of digital examinations lies: can be taken into account.

Summary

Faculty-wide surveys among the students showed that – even if they were initially surprised and forced to do so –
the digital course offerings were well received, and dig- for a varied design of teaching, which can and will certainly
ital examinations are also perceived as an advantage. also be used after returning to the classroom.
The lecturers have additional elements at their disposal

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