Projects, Initiatives, and Evaluation Results on Digital Teaching
Contact us
Responsible
Prof. Dr. Andrea Strübind
Vice President for Studying and Teaching
Contact person
Isabel Müskens
0441 798-5474
Oeco 1-159
Ammerländer Heerstraße 114-118
26129 Oldenburg
Projects, Initiatives, and Evaluation Results on Digital Teaching
Research on digital teaching and learning has been conducted and is ongoing in many areas of our university; projects and initiatives have been and are being implemented with a focus on digital teaching and learning. These activities were presented by project leaders, staff, and faculty during the poster presentation at the Day of Teaching and Learning (TdLL) on November 30th, 2023. Additionally, offerings from educational development and results from internal evaluations concerning digital teaching and learning at the University of Oldenburg were presented.
The aim of the poster presentation was to create transparency about these activities and to promote networking and exchange among faculties, students, teachers, staff, and other involved stakeholders. To ensure the content of the poster presentation remains accessible long-term, it has been documented here on the website dedicated to the digitalization of study and teaching, and further activities can be added as desired
University-Wide Projects and Initiatives
Didactics of Higher Education
Teaching and learning with digital media - qualification and information programmes in university didactics for teaching staff
Director: Dr. Simone Schipper
Team and contact
Email orga.hochschuldidaktik@uol.de
Web https://uol.de/lehre/hochschuldidaktik/
Instagram @lehre_uol
Inspiration in a nutshell - lunch meetings, tutor qualification and other short formats
The monthly lunchtime meetings focus on didactic aspects of teaching and suitable digital tools. In a compact one-hour format, there are inspirational inputs and the opportunity to contribute and discuss your own questions and experiences.
Selection: Lunch meeting topics from the years 2022 and 2023
- New features in Stud.IP - in cooperation with the IT services
- Didactic scenarios with individual tools in Stud.IP: wiki, courseware, vips
- Flipped classroom
- Digitally supporting face-to-face teaching - in cooperation with SOUVER@N
- Gender and diversity-conscious design of digital teaching
- Low-barrier design of digital teaching
- Research-based learning with digital media
- Digital examination administration - in cooperation with the examination office
- Generative AI in teaching - in cooperation with participate@UOL and SOUVER@N
- Open Educational Resources in teaching - in cooperation with participate@UOL and twillo
- Interaction in online meetings
- Collaborative scenarios with OnlyOffice and NextCloud
- Good practice: lecturers present their concepts for digital teaching
In addition, overview events on the Stud.IP learning management system for beginners and advanced users will be organised in cooperation with the IT services.
The tutor qualification is offered by the Central Student and Career Counselling Service (ZSKB). As part of the qualification, tutors can acquire extensive skills to organise tutorials in a way that promotes learning. The courses on the didactically meaningful use of digital media in tutorials and online tutorials in the focus area ‘Media and Information Competence’ have been designed and implemented by the University Didactics department, among others, since 2021.
Collection of teaching concepts - learning from others
Teachers at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg present their teaching concepts in the collection. These are from the area of research-based learning, the teacher training programmes or from funded projects. You will also find concepts that organise teaching and learning with digital media and those that have been awarded the Teaching Prize.
Curious? https://wp.uni-oldenburg.de/lehrkonzepte/
Workshops - further develop your own teaching
In our one- to two-day training courses for lecturers, teaching and learning with digital media is partly the focus itself, and partly this aspect is included as a cross-cutting topic. In addition to teaching content, the workshops offer the opportunity to (further) develop the concept of your own course with digital media. Other important elements are the workshop character, the reflection of one's own role as a teacher and the exchange with other teachers.
Selection of topics from the years 2022 and 2023
- Teaching and learning with digital media
- Designing teaching with LEGO® Serious Play® - in cooperation with participate@UOL
- Producing podcasts made easy - creative work with Audacity - in cooperation with participate@UOL
- Understanding and applying student participation and open educational practices in teaching - in cooperation with participate@UOL
- Teaching Out Loud: Developing networking skills - in cooperation with participate@UOL
Further information
On our website, we also provide a wide range of information on designing teaching - including in connection with digital teaching:
- Didactic scenarios with Stud.IP
- Generative artificial intelligence in teaching
- Barrier-free design of digital teaching materials
Feedback, evaluation and further development of the programme
What lecturers say about the university didactics programme:
- ‘It was a really great workshop, very insightful. I left with a lot of new insights! Many, many thanks!’
- ‘You do a really great job! The university didactics workshops are very helpful, otherwise as a lecturer you sometimes feel a bit ‘left alone’ with the conception of teaching.’
Teachers find them particularly helpful:
- ‘Getting to know new digital tools’
- ‘Systematically linking learning objectives with digital tools’
The university didactics programme is constantly being further developed based on feedback from the evaluations. This concerns topic requests as well as the design of the formats (e.g. online or face-to-face, time frame). Suggestions are always welcome! Customised offers can also be created on request. Please feel free to contact us!
participate@UOL
Directory: Prof Dr Karsten Speck (former Vice President of Studying and Teaching) , Isabel Müskens (Head of the Department of Studying and Teaching)
Project duration 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Strengthening the participation of students and lecturers in innovative, digital and hybrid teaching/learning formats
- Enabling the joint testing of contemporary teaching/learning formats and sustainable implementation in teaching/learning practice
- Shaping the university as a place of learning in the digital age that invites a diverse student and teaching staff body to jointly develop studies and teaching
Project content
- Creation of digital support programmes for students during the introductory phase of their studies
- Creation of open spaces for digital and hybrid learning and teaching (development of teaching and learning labs, creation and use of OER)
- Development of virtual spaces for the creation of virtual labs
- Support for digital and hybrid teaching for lecturers and students
Use of digital tools
- UbiSim software for VR glasses for simulations in medicine (FK VI)
- Labster for simulations of laboratory experiments in the natural sciences (open to all FKs)
- ViTeLLO - Virtual Teaching Lab based on Gather.Town (FK II)
- Multi-touch table and interactive whiteboards in the Learning Lab in the media centre, BIS, ZW4 (planned: PodCast studio)
- Canva for creating graphics, logos, marketing material
Requests for networking
- Innovative teaching/learning methods
- Use of digital tools to improve classroom teaching
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
- Virtual rooms and development of new methods in the labs
Faculty I
Prospects for the Future of Learning: Artificial Intelligence Applications in Higher Education (AIEd)
Project management: Prof Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter (international joint project)
Project website: https://uol.de/coer/research-projects/projects/aied
Funding organisations: Volkswagen Foundation and State of Lower Saxony
Project questions
- What are possible scenarios for AI applications in higher education and what opportunities do they offer for teaching and learning?
- What risks, ethical and legal implications - with a particular focus on issues of fairness in relation to gender and diversity - need to be considered?
- What further training is required for university lecturers in the context of AIEd?
Project content
- Researching global perspectives on the current and potential use of artificial intelligence applications in teaching and learning
- Development of future scenarios, which will be comparatively evaluated by university lecturers from five countries/regions (Germany, China/Japan/South Korea, USA, Spain and Turkey) and two subject areas (social sciences and humanities and STEM).
Methods
- Online focus groups
- Web-based questionnaires
Souver@n - Digital teaching and learning in Lower Saxony
Sub-project leader: Prof Dr Maja Brückmann (joint project of eight universities in Lower Saxony)
Project website: https://hochschuledigital-niedersachsen.de/home/souvern/
Funding organisation: Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching
Project duration 2021- 2024
Project goals
- The competent and learning goal-orientated (i.e. confident) use of digital tools by teachers and students (digital literacy)
- The professional development of high-quality digital teaching/learning concepts and content
- The sovereignty of the universities as institutions strengthened by the alliance
Project content
- Development of digital learning content for the basic qualification in German/maths and subject teaching (primary school teacher training)
- Development of a learning programme to impart digital teaching skills for eTutors
- Media-didactically orientated collection of best-practice examples of digital teaching/learning concepts
Project clusters
- Establishment of an agile network for the joint development of tools as well as support and services in digital and hybrid teaching (in short: Agile Innovation Network - Services)
- Targeted development and provision of content of digital materials in the form of OER in common areas of need (in short: shared teaching/learning materials - content/OER)
- Clarification of existing and emerging legal issues relating to digital and hybrid teaching (in short: clarification of the legal framework)
- Coordinated, secure, reliable and independent operation of basic technologies for digital and hybrid teaching (in short: IT basis)
LFB-labs-digital: Student labs as a place for teacher training
Project management: Prof. Dr Maja Brückmann (joint project with several cooperation partners)
Project website: https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/einrichtungen/bised/lfb-labs-digital/index.xml
Project duration 2023-2025
Project goals
- Development of student laboratories into innovative locations for teacher training (LFB) in the STEM field
- Supporting the research-based, cross-phase quality development of STEM-related initial, continuing and further teacher training institutions and their transfer efforts
- Creation of digital learning centres to train teachers in digital skills and promote student motivation for STEM subjects
Project levels
- Level 1: Conditions for success at student lab level
- Level 2: Cross-curricular conditions for success and implementation
- Level 3: Implementation conditions at system level
Educational media 4.0?: An analysis of the changes in production and mediation knowledge in the field of educational media
Project management: Prof. Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist (Digital Education Group) in cooperation with Prof. Dr Thomas Höhne (Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg)
Funding organisation: German Research Foundation
Project duration 2020-2024
Project goals
- Answering the question of which discourses, economic theories and controversial debates are (re)produced in textbooks and in what form
- To answer the question of how the multimedia elements that are increasingly included in digital textbooks change economic knowledge
- Investigating the influence of development processes of digital textbooks, production and the discursive entanglements of actors on this mediated knowledge
- Answering the question of how the process of development and production of educational media, which are increasingly conceived ‘born digital’, has changed as a result of technological change in the publishing industry
Project content
- Level 1: Discourse-analytical approaches to answer the first two questions
- Level 2: Conducting interviews with developers of digital textbooks to answer the last two formulated questions
Education, Technology and Inequality after Corona (ETIC): A Critical Utopian Approach - Education, technology and inequality during the pandemic
Project management: Prof Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist (Department of Digital Education)
Cooperation with Prof Dr Kerstin Rabenstein (Department of School Pedagogy/ Empirical Teaching Research and School Development at the Georg-August University of Göttingen)
Project website: https://www.gei.de/forschung/projekte/etic?sword_list%5B0%5D=etic&no_cache=1
Funding organisation: Volkswagen Foundation
Project duration 2021 - 2023
Objectives
- Starting point: inequalities existing under Corona
- How have these inequalities increased during the pandemic?
- How are actors shaping the unusual situation?
Project content
- Recording narratives from interviewees on how inequalities occurring in everyday working life during the Covid-19 pandemic were dealt with
- Conducting 65 interviews with social workers, teachers, educators and education administrators, among others
Project publications (selection)
- Dünkel, Milena (2022). Schule, Digitalität und soziale Ungleichheiten vor dem Hintergrund der COVID-19-Pandemie - Eine qualitative Untersuchung der Perspektiven (außer-)schulischer Unterstützungsangebote. Master thesis, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
- Kuke, Kirsten (2022). Konstruktionen von Zukunft in Interviews zu Schule während der Corona-Pandemie. Eine Grounded Theory Studie. Master thesis, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
- Schütte, Gesa (2022). Soziale Ungleichheiten im Lebensraum Schule während der Corona-Pandemie. Eine qualitative Interviewstudie über Reaktionen auf Verstärkung von sozialen Ungleichheiten. Master thesis, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
Reconfigurations of Educational In/Equality in a Digital World (RED)
Project management: Prof Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist (Digital Education Group)
Funding organisation: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (https://www.edu-digitalinequality.org)
Project duration 2020 - 2024
Research questions
- How do policies and data infrastructures for digital education address inequalities?
- How do selected privileged and disadvantaged schools deal with digital technologies and thus (re-)create or eliminate inequalities?
- How are the ‘data profiles’ of schools related to (in)equality?
Project content
Using ethnographic methods as well as digital methods, the following objectives are pursued.
- Mapping global phenomena and local particularities
- Developing a contextualised understanding of technology use in disadvantaged schools
- Profiling how and by whom student data is colonised in global contexts
- Problematising simplistic representations of how technology can alleviate inequalities
- Identify mechanisms through which technology and/or data sovereignty promote equity
Project publications (selection)
- Büchner, F., Bittner, M. & Macgilchrist, F. (2023). Imaginationen von Ungleichheit im Notfall-Distanzunterricht: Analyse eines Policydiskurses und seiner Problemrepräsentationen. MedienPädagogik, 20, 347-373. https://doi.org/10.21240/mpaed/jb20/2023.09.14.X (open access)
- Jornitz, S. & Macgilchrist, F. (2021). Datafizierte Sichtbarkeiten: Vom Panopticon zum Panspectron in der schulischen Praxis. MedienPädagogik , 45, 98-122. https://doi.org/10.21240/mpaed/45/2021.12.21.X (open access)
- Macgilchrist, F. (2021). Theories of Postdigital Heterogeneity: Implications for Research on Education and Datafication. Postdigital Science and Education, 3(3), 660-667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-021-00232-w (open access)
- Macgilchrist, F. (accepted/forthcoming). Design justice and educational technology: Designing in the fissures. In B. Williamson, J. Komljenovic & K. N. Gulson (Eds.), World Yearbook of Education 2024 (Digitalization of Education in the Era of Algorithms, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence). Routledge.
Digitisation-related and digitally supported school (culture) development through multi-professional cooperation at all-day primary schools (DigiSchukuMPT)
Project management: Prof Dr Till-Sebastian Idel (in cooperation with other universities)
Project website: https://www.digischukumpk.de/
Funding organisations: European Union - NextGenerationEU and BMBF
Objectives of the competence network
- Digitalisation-related and digitally supported professionalisation of teaching staff at all-day primary schools
- Development of further training programmes to promote multi-professionalism as a core element of inclusive school culture development through
- intra-, inter- and transprofessional school and teaching development focussing on inclusion and all-day education
- Focus on the country-specific implementation of the developed concepts and formats, the provision of materials via digital infrastructures and the monitoring of development processes
Communities of Practice (CoP)
- Heterogeneity-sensitive cooperation development
Conception of further training courses to promote multi-professionalism as a core element of inclusive school culture development at project schools; gaining insights into the success of the further training courses, their optimisation and implementation - Social space-orientated school development
Initiating, monitoring and analysing social space-oriented school development processes in the project schools. The focus is on the actions of school stakeholders in multi-professional teams that are integrated into internal and external networks of interaction. - Data-based school development
Supporting project schools in building joint capacities for data-based school development. This includes the collaborative development and use of digital tools, e.g. to establish an infrastructure for data collection. - School culture of self-regulated learning (SRL)
Development of SRL concepts for schools, taking into account their framework conditions in co-constructive development workshops
Learning culture in digital change. Ethnographic studies on school and teaching (LernDiWa)
Project management: Prof Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist (Digital Education Group) and Prof Dr Kerstin Rabenstein (University of Göttingen)
Project website: https://www.gei.de/forschung/projekte/lerndiwa
Funding organisation: Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK)
Project duration 2019 - 2023
Project aims
- Research into everyday ‘digital practices’ in schools
- Investigating the question of how school learning culture is changing in a digitally networked world
- Developing successful interventions that are highly relevant for policy and school development
Project content
- Interdisciplinary approach: combination of school and teaching research, media and cultural studies approaches and ethnography
- Differentiated and situational description of everyday school life as a linguistic and physical activity with objects and media
- Investigation of digital change in everyday school life with regard to digital media and the associated new routines or ambivalences
Projektpublikationen (Auswahl)
- Macgilchrist, F., Rabenstein, K., Wagener-Böck, N. & Bock, A. (2023). 'Google_Suche‘: Suche als soziale Praxis in Unterricht und Schule. In M. Proske, K. Rabenstein, A. Moldenhauer, S. Thiersch, A. Bock, M. Herrle, M. Hoffmann, A. Langer, F. Macgilchrist, N. Wagener-Böck, & E. Wolf (Eds.), Schule und Unterricht im digitalen Wandel. Ansätze und Erträge rekonstruktiver Forschung (pp. 67-89).
- Rabenstein, K., Wagener-Böck, N., Macgilchrist, F. & Bock, A. (2022). Interferenzen in digitalen Praktiken der Bereitstellung von unterrichtlichen Aufgaben. Ethnographische Beobachtungen in der Pandemie. Sozialer Sinn, 297-316. https://doi.org/10.1515/sosi-2022-0016
- Proske, M., Rabenstein, K., Moldenhauer, A., Thiersch, S., Bock, A., Herrle, M., Hoffmann, M .,Langer, A., Macgilchrist, F., Wagener-Böck, N. & Wolf, E. (Eds.). (2023). Schule und Unterricht im digitalen Wandel. Ansätze und Erträge rekonstruktiver Forschung. Klinkhardt. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:26251
- Wagener-Böck, N., Macgilchrist, F., Rabenstein, K. & Bock, A. (2023). From automation to symmation: Ethnographic perspectives on what happens in front of the screen. Postdigital Science and Education, 5, 136–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00350-z
FaBuLoUS - Fablabs as educational and learning centres to support schools
Project management: Prof Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist (Digital Education Group) in collaboration with several project partners
Project website: https://fabulous.uni-bremen.de/
Funding organisation: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Project duration 2020 - 2023
Research question
How can offers for educational processes of children and young people be designed in and with FabLabs and which change processes can be observed through such cooperations?
Project goals
- In cooperation with selected schools (primary school, lower secondary level), design of educational formats that promote skills such as abstraction, modelling, algorithmic thinking, problem-solving strategies and systems thinking and take subject curricula into account
- Identification of heterogeneous competences acquired by young people outside of school and development of suitable forms of recognition for these informal competences
- Formulate principles for linking informal competences through non-school educational opportunities (but in the context of school educational goals)
- Identification of organisational conditions for successful cooperation between schools and labs and investigation of processes of change in professional roles, pedagogical relationships and didactic actions in these non-school educational settings
Project publications (selection)
- Coers, L. & Dittbrenner, E. (2023): Grundschüler*innen in deinem FabLab. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/2044
- Coers, L. & Dittbrenner, E. (2023): Mit Grundschulen ins FabLab. https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/2045
- Macgilchrist, F., Jarke, J., Allert, H. & Cerratto Pargman, T. (2023). Designing postdigital futures: Which designs? Whose futures? Postdigital Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00389-y
- Macgilchrist, F. (2024). Design justice and educational technology: Designing in the fissures. In B. Williamson, J. Komljenovic & K. N. Gulson (Eds.), World Yearbook of Education 2024 (Digitalization of Education in the Era of Algorithms, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence) (pp. 294-310). Routledge.
- Poltze, K.; Demuth, K.; Eke, S.; Moebus, A. & Macgilchrist, F. (2022): Erfahrungen des Partizipierens. Reflexionen zu partizipativen Forschungs- und Gestaltungsprozessen. Bildungsforschung 2022(2). 1-14. https://doi.org/10.25539/bildungsforschung.v0i2.900
Digital Initiative for the Centers of Excellence in Africa - DIGI-Face
Project management: Prof. Dr. Karsten Speck, Prof. Dr. Bernd Siebenhüner, Dr. Malve v. Möllendorff
Project website: https://www.digiface.org
Funded by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Foreign Office; project partners: Kehl University of Applied Sciences, Nelson Mandela University (South Africa)
Project duration 01.01.2020 - 31.12.2025
Project goals
- The development and provision of a digital platform for the 15 DAAD-funded subject centres in Africa (approx. 40 universities in Sub-Saharan Africa)
- The improvement of digital teaching/learning conditions in the African centres of expertise
- Supporting the African centres of expertise in the development and implementation of digitally supported teaching and the promotion of digital teaching/learning skills
- Creating further training opportunities in the areas of academic work, research methods and (technology-supported) university didactics
- Promotion of interdisciplinary cooperation in the digital network of the Africa Centres of Expertise
Project content
- Development and provision of digital training modules for Master's students, doctoral candidates and academics on the DIGI-Face platform
- Training of multipliers for digital teaching/learning formats
- Regional training programmes for digital teaching and learning and Moodle management in South, West and East Africa
- Project and conference management for the Africa centres of expertise
- Publications (OER) and support for alumni work
Use of digital toolss
- WordPress Project Manager Pro: Centres, Members, Blogs, Publications, Projects, Alumni, Events
- Moodle & H5P: Course Info, Grades, Course, Content
- Design tools: Canva & Adobe InDesign, Freepik, Articulate, Doodly, Midjourney
- Communication: Zoom, DeepL
- Padcaster studios
- VMWare support, Candy ticketing system
Requests for Networking
- Possibilities and benefits of AI-supported tools in teaching and research
- Courses on generative AI for teachers and students
Digitalisation in teacher training in Oldenburg (DiOLL)
Project management: Prof. Dr. Karsten Speck
Scientific project management: Prof. Dr. Ira Diethelm
Project website: https://uol.de/dioll
Funding organisation: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the ‘Teacher Training Quality Campaign’
Project duration 01.03.2020 - 31.12.2023
Project goals
- Sustainably strengthening the digitalisation-related skills of student teachers and school teachers.
- Strengthening the contextualised use of digital media and technologies in the classroom.
- Development, testing and implementation of a practice-oriented teaching and further training programme that promotes both the skills of student teachers and school teachers in the use of digital media and the skills required to teach digitalisation-related topics.
- Establishment of a career-biographically orientated and cross-phase coordinated offer for digital education.
Focus of Faculty I: Digitalisation in subject teaching
Development and testing of concepts for digitally supported teaching of professional skills for the use of digital-interactive materials (primary level): OER self-learning modules that are made available to students and teachers online for self-regulated learning.
Work centres that are located in Faculty I
‘Digitalisation in teacher training’ (DiLL) for the further development of teacher training courses
- Konzeption, Erprobung und Implementierung von Lehrangeboten
- Digitalisierung und sprachsensibler Fachunterricht
- Digitalisierung in den Naturwissenschaften
- Digitalisierung im Sachunterricht
Digital teacher training centre (DiFo) for the further development of further training courses for school teachers
- Development, testing and provision of blended learning formats
- Development, testing and provision of digital self-study modules
- Conception and support of school digitalisation strategies
Joint work package: Internal and external communication and networking
Project results and materials
The materials and concepts were developed by project staff or by students in DiOLL-related seminars:
- concrete teaching material for lesson planning.
- Podcasts for inspiration and information.
- self-learning modules, for their own further training
- Concepts for planning further training courses
- Glossary with various terms relating to the topic of digitalisation. Didactic suggestions and tips for lessons as well as further materials.
Link to the project results: https://uol.de/dioll/projektergebnisse
Digitalisation in teaching at Faculty I
Professorships related to digitalisation
- ‘Digital Education in Schools’ (Prof. Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist, Institute of Education)
- ‘Digital Social Science’ (Prof. Dr Marius Sältzer, Institute of Social Sciences)
- ‘Knowledge transfer and learning with new technologies’ (Prof. Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Institute of Education)
Courses related to digitalisation (selection)
- Comics, podcasts, movies - media pedagogical practice with open source (lecturer: Anja Roß)
- Critical Data Literacies for Teachers (Stephanie Troff)
- Design Futuring: The future of school in a digitally networked world (Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- Diagnostics, prevention and intervention with a focus on digitalisation in schools (Lecturer: Kirsten Gronau)
- Digital education: Current topics (Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- Digital education in practice: planning, development, implementation (Prof. Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Joachim Stöter)
- Digital media in schools and lessons: Podcasting! Digital learning with auditory media (Anja Roß)
- AI, education and digital culture (Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- AI in schools: practice, reflection and design (Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- Teaching and learning with explanatory videos - creative and digital (Anja Roß)
- Teaching and learning with explanatory videos - creative and digital (Anja Roß)
- AI, education and digital culture (Prof. Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- Digital education: Current topics (Prof Dr Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- Media education: Research and practice (Stephanie Troff)
- Media education and digitalisation (Prof. Dr. Felicitas Macgilchrist)
- Media education and digitalisation in social work (Lecturer: Melanie Schaumburg)
- Media workshop - active and creative with digital media (Melanie Schaumburg)
- Podcasting! - Digital learning with auditory media (Anja Roß)
- Stop motion animation - audiovisual media in child and youth work (Anja Roß)
Plans for study programmes
A new Master's degree programme with the working title ‘Digital Technologies and Society’ is being planned in cooperation between the social sciences and computer science.
Faculty II
Digitalisation in teaching at Faculty II Computer Science - degree programmes and courses
Computer Science degree programmes
All computer science courses have a connection to digitalisation, as computer science is at the heart of all digitalisation activities. On the one hand, it is the technological basis, and on the other, computer science is a service provider for all application areas. The degree programmes include
- Bachelor of Computer Science
- Bachelor of Business Informatics
- 2-subject Bachelor of Computer Science
- Master of Computer Science
- Master of Science in Business Informatics
- Master of Education Computer Science
- Master Engineering of Sociotechnical Systems
- Master Digitalised Energy Systems
The degree programmes themselves use digital infrastructures and impart the knowledge and methodology for designing digitalised processes.
Included specialised courses are:
- biw330 ‘Media Education and Digitalisation’ for all teacher training students (Prof. Dr Ira Diethelm, together with FK I)
Plans for degree programmes
Planning for new degree programmes, which are usually created cross-faculty:
- Data Science in Medicine
- Digital Technologies and Society
- Consecutive Bachelor's/Master's degree programmes on digitalisation in the natural sciences (esp. chemistry)
Digitalisation in teaching at Faculty II Vocational and Business Education - degree programmes and courses
In addition to the standard repertoire of smaller tools (e.g. Canva, Mentimeter, oncoo etc.), the Department of Vocational and Business Education has been using and creating various digital teaching and learning formats as part of teaching and learning events for many years.
In recent semesters, the focus has been on the following two digital formats in particular.
- Digital worksheets offer learners a variety of ways to acquire knowledge. The main advantage is that it is possible to interact directly with the learning objects (e.g. graphics, tables, etc.) so that learning processes can be customised and dynamically designed. Digital worksheets can be developed using the GeoGebra tool. The worksheets developed by students can be found here:: https://www.geogebra.org/u/bwp_oldenburg
- Educational videos are now one of the key media used in school education. As part of a seminar organised as a project, students learn how to make technically justified didactic selection and reduction decisions and how to design educational videos professionally. A selection of educational videos developed by the students can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@fgberufs-undwirtschaftspad8407/videos
Digitalisation in teaching at Faculty II Business, Economics and Law - degree programmes and courses
Digital Transformation: Strategies and Sustainability
Head: Prof Dr Jörn Hoppmann
Since 2020
The aim of the course is to give students an insight into the economic, social and ecological effects of digital transformation.
Digitalisation in economic education
using the example of the Oldenburg Experimental Laboratory for Economic Education (OX-Lab)
About the OX-Lab
- Implementation of digital and analogue classroom experiments
- Support for research-orientated teaching and learning processes
- Integration of digital platforms (classEx, Teacheconomy, etc.)
- Subject-specific didactic development research
- Cross-phase networking of various stakeholders in teacher training
- Curricular anchoring of experiments in the curriculum
Offerings of the OX-Lab
- (Digital) instructions for experiments for lectures and economics lessons
- Courses, workshops and further training in analogue and virtual learning environments (OX-Lab x ViTeLLO)
- Competence centre for digital experiments
- Learning centre for school classes and teacher training
Further digital offerings in economic education
- ‘Digital classroom’ with tablet and videography equipment
- Platform solution (Ecedon), e.g. for the implementation of qualification measures for teachers
- Digital vignette pool for the counselling skills of students
- Didactic seminars on digital media and methods of economic education
- Current research and development projects on adaptive learning, digital practical contacts, digital skills for the use of experiments and the connection between economics, ethics and digitalisation
InnoPlus Project 2.0 - Game Based Learning
Project management: Prof. Dr Alexander Nicolai and Andreas Scheel (project position)
Project duration: 01.01.2023 - 31.12.2023
Project goals/contents
Testing and further development of the game-based learning approach for various teaching and learning formats (digital competition formats in which students ‘duel’ on the respective learning content and thus consolidate their knowledge in a playful way and are encouraged to network with each other.
DiOLL (Digitalisation in Oldenburg teacher training, university-wide)
Project management: Prof Dr Ira Diethelm
Project duration: 01.03.2020 - 31.12.2023
Project goals/contents
Strengthening the digitalisation-related skills of student teachers and teaching staff (funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) together with the Department of Studies and Teaching, FK II - Computer Science, FK I - Sachunterricht, FK IV - German Studies and FK V - Chemistry Didactics).
D4MINT (joint project with Aachen on competence centres for digital learning in the STEM subjects)
Project management: Prof Dr Ira Diethelm
Project duration: 01.04.2023 - 30.09.2025
Project goals/contents
Strengthening the digital skills of STEM teachers, especially non-subject computer science teachers from primary and lower secondary schools (together with FK II and FK I and partners in NRW)
ComeMINT (joint project with Duisburg-Essen on competence centres for digital learning, in MINT)
Project management: Prof Dr Ira Diethelm
Project duration: 01.04.2023 - 30.09.2026
Project goals/contents
Strengthening the computer science skills of science teachers (together with FK II and FK I).
Computer Science Learning Lab and ViTeLLO
Project management: Prof Dr Ira Diethelm
Project duration 01.04.2023 - 30.09.2025
Project goals/ content
ViTeLLO is part of OLELA (Oldenburg Teaching-Learning Spaces)
(https://uol.de/lernlabor-informatik)
participate@UOL at Faculty II
Project management: Prof Dr Karsten Speck (former VPL) and Isabel Müskens (former Head of Department of Studying and Teaching)
Project collaborator Faculty II: Hardo Schencke
Project duration 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Strengthening the participation of students and lecturers in innovative, digital and hybrid teaching/learning formats
- Enabling the joint testing of contemporary teaching/learning formats and sustainable implementation in teaching/learning practice
- Shaping the university as a place of learning in the digital age that invites a diverse student and teaching staff body to jointly develop studies and teaching
Project content
- Designing information and participation programmes on digital teaching for teaching staff and students in the faculty
- Offers for exchange and counselling on the use of digital tools for teaching
- Support in the design and implementation of hybrid courses
- Design of digital support programmes/open educational resources (OER)
- Design of rooms for the implementation of digital teaching elements
Use of digital tools
- Labster for simulations of laboratory experiments (open to all faculties)
- ViTeLLO - Virtual Teaching Lab based on Gather.Town (as part of OLELA Head: Prof Dr Ira Diethelm)
- Multi-touch table and interactive whiteboards in the Learning Lab in the Mediathek, BIS, ZW4 (planned: PodCast studio) (for all faculties)
- Canva for creating graphics, logos, marketing material
Requests for networking
- Exchange with other faculties regarding technology and digital tools
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs and accompanying programmes
- Exchange on virtual teaching/learning platforms
Faculty III
participate@UOL at Faculty III
Responsibility for content Faculty III: Prof Dr Albrecht Hausmann (Dean of Studies)
Project assistant: Vanessa Barbagiovanni Bugiacca
Student assistant: Christoph Wollesen
Project duration 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Promoting the participation of students and teachers in the development of innovative teaching/learning formats
- Support and counselling services for teachers in the use of digital elements and technology as well as for the planning of scenarios
- Testing and integrating digital technologies into (classroom) teaching
- Creation and provision of digital support programmes for students in the introductory phase, outgoing phase and during their studies
Project content
- Conception and realisation of the peer-to-peer series ‘LevelUP - practical workshop for students’ (in cooperation with the Learning Lab)
- ‘Journey of discovery in digital education’ course for BA students from all faculties (tandem teaching by faculty staff from all faculties)
- Conception, coordination and realisation of ‘Tooltime - practical workshop for teachers’ (in cooperation with other faculty staff and the Learning Lab)
- Creation of OER materials
- Individual counselling and support services for lecturers with regard to digitally supported and hybrid teaching
- Procurement and lending of specialised media technology
Use of digital tools
- Padlet, Muralboard, Etherpad
- Wordpress, H5P
- BigBlueButton
- Canva, Affinity, Adobe Suite
- Actionbound
Requests for networking
- Other projects that deal with digitalisation in teaching
- University-wide exchange on the use of VR
participate@UOL Teilprojekt Sprachliche Teilhabe
Head: Prof Dr Katrin Kleinschmidt-Schinke
Scientific assistance: Dr Esther Jahns
Project duration 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Linguistic research project: Academic language anxiety as a barrier to participation
- Research questions:
- Does academic language anxiety prevent participation?
- Which factors favour and which reduce it?
- What influence do digital tools have?
Project content
- Method: Focus group discussion and semi-structured guided interviews with a total of 16 UOL students
- Master's seminar on ‘Language variation and language ideologies’, format: blended-learning; overarching topic: reflection on own participation and formats that promote participation à transfer to teaching at school
Use of digital tools
- BBB (video conference, voting tool)
Requests for networking
- UOL teachers who have had (positive) experiences with formats that promote oral participation
- Students who have had experiences with language anxiety and would like to share them
- Teachers who would like to consider language anxiety and language ideologies in their teaching
participate@UOL Linguistic participation sub-project
Head: Prof Dr Katrin Kleinschmidt-Schinke
Scientific assistance: Sarah Meier
Project duration 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project goals:
- Dissertation project: Procedure-oriented promotion of students' academic writing skills - an intervention study (working title)
- Strengthening student participation in academic discourse through subject-integrated promotion of academic writing skills in the field of didactics of the German language
Project content
- Development of a digital teaching/learning unit in courseware to promote scientific language skills using the example of scientific introductory texts
- Testing the effectiveness of this teaching/learning unit in a quasi-experimental intervention study (module ger246)
Use of digital tools
- Courseware
- Etherpad
- CloCked
Requests for networking
- Examination of possible transferability of the funding concept to other departments
Digitalisation in teaching at Faculty III
Further projects
- Language-sensitive teaching as part of the cross-faculty project ‘Digitalisation in Oldenburg Teacher Education (DiOLL)’
Duration: 2019-2023
Contact person: Prof. Dr Juliana Goschler - Digitisation-related and digitally supported professionalisation of sports, music and art teachers (DigiProSMK)
Duration: 2023-2026
Contact person: Prof. Dr Michaela Kaiser - Digitality - Diversity - Producing: Practices of popular music in schools and further education (DiDiPro)
Duration: 2023-2026
Contact person: Prof. Dr Mario Dunkel
Resources of past projects
- Virtual scavenger hunt with Actionbound ‘Uni Action - Oldenburg's institutions of knowledge production’
Context of origin: Innovation Plus Uni Action project
Duration: 2019-2020
Project management: Prof Dr Karen Ellwanger - Learning platform with online courses on academic work, researching and learning about things and ethno/netnography
Context of origin: Project Quality Plus - Digital Literacy at the Material Culture Centre
Duration: 2019-2022
Project management: Prof Dr Karen Ellwanger
Faculty V
participate@UOL at Faculty V
Experimental procedures and working methods - digital, repetitive
Head: Dr. Alexander Weiz (Institute of Chemistry)
Project duration 01.08.2023 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Pilot project for embedding augmented reality in laboratory teaching
- Supporting the learning of basic laboratory procedures through short video sequences
- Creation of conditions for independent thinking through/further practising of procedures before and after laboratory time through the possibility of comparison independent of time and place
Project content
- Creation of individual short video sequences (up to 60 seconds) on selected laboratory procedures that are difficult to describe verbally
- Precise anchoring of the video sequences via QR code in the script of the course ‘Introduction to laboratory practice’
- Differentiation from Labster: no video game character like Labster, but very short sequences tailored to the course
Use of digital tools
- Digital video recording and editing equipment (already available since 2020)
Digital lab books in the practical physics course
Head: PD Dr Michael Krüger (Institute of Physics))
Project duration 01.08.2023 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Pilot project for the introduction of digital lab books in practical courses
- Enabling students to keep a digital lab book
- Creation of a setting for the practical introduction of students to data management and FAIR principles
Project content
- Selection, optimisation and, if necessary, modification of one or more suitable experiments
- Connection of an open source lab book to StudIP
(Note: The aim is not to enable students to use a specific tool, but to familiarise them with the key aspects of its use) - Accompaniment of the first realisation of the experiment thus trained
Use of digital tools
- studIP
- Selection of the open source lab book system is currently underway
Using and creating your own OER (for student teachers)
Head: Anja Wübben (Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences)
Project duration 01.08.2023 - 31.07.2024
Project aims
- Creation of an accompanying teaching programme for finding, using and creating OER Project content
Project content
- Creation of a subject-specific module -- linked to ‘Teaching and learning in the student laboratory’ -- for handling and creating OER
- Interdisciplinary module on the legally compliant use and provision of OER
Digital contents during orientation-week
Head: Sven Logemann, Tabea Liedtke (pilot project of the mathematics student council)
Project duration 01.08.2023 - 30.11.2023
Project goals
- Integration of a well-founded introduction to the efficient use of existing digital tools of the UOL into the O-week
Project content
- Conceptual expansion of the ‘timetable help’ learning unit of the O-week with new content
- Creation of materials to introduce first-year students to the possibilities of StudIP (suitable for the requirements of the first year of study)
Faculty VI
Digitalisation of surgical teaching through virtual reality
Project management: Dr. Nader El-Sourani, Dr. Susanne Quintes,
René Klarmann
Project duration 01.08.2023 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Competence-oriented training through virtual reality before students enter the healthcare system
- Evaluation of subjective and objective knowledge gain through a quantitative analysis
- Strengthening the participation of students and teachers in innovative, digital and hybrid teaching/learning formats
- Designing the university as a place of learning in the digital age that invites a diverse student and teaching staff to jointly develop studies and teaching
Project content
- Digitalisation of surgical teaching through the integration of virtual reality
- Virtual reality is chosen as the last teaching unit before entering the healthcare system
- Applying the knowledge and skills learnt in a simulated emergency room
- Support for digital and hybrid teaching for lecturers and students
Use of digital tools
- StepVR
Requests for networking
- Innovative teaching/learning methods
- Use of digital tools to improve classroom teaching
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
- Virtual rooms and development of new methods in the labs
Abgehört - Der Medizindidaktik Podcast (The medical didactics podcast)
Project management: Thomas Schmidt (Medical Didactics Faculty VI).
Dr Susanne Quintes (participate@UOL Faculty VI)
Project duration since March 2022
Project goals
- Imparting knowledge on the topic of didactics with specific examples from medical didactics
- Creating low-barrier access to information, independent of time and place
- Arouse interest in didactic topics among teachers and students
Project content
- Preparation of specialised didactic knowledge and the latest specialist literature from the field of medical didactics
- Listening to teachers and students on the topic of didactics and actively participating in the podcast
- Establishing podcasts as a possible format for teaching and conveying information
Use of digital tools
- Rode podcast microphone (financed by participate@UOL)
- Podcast Studio of the GIZ of the University of Oldenburg
- Audacity software for recording and editing
- Distribution of the podcast via the Medical Didactics website and platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc. (hosted on Acast)
Requests for networking
- Exchange with the hosts of other podcasts at the University of Oldenburg
- Participation and topic requests from lecturers and students
- Networking with lecturers and students who produce their own podcasts and would like to use them in a teaching/learning context
Augmented and virtual reality in medical education and training
Project management: Prof Dr Dirk Weyhe, Dr Verena Uslar
Project duration 01.02.2021 - 31.01.2024
Project goals
- Testing the integration of virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) in medical education and training
- Recording person-specific characteristics that could influence learning success when using VR and AR
Project content
- Testing of a VR and an AR tool for medical education and training as part of three studies
- Results:
- Increase in learning success when using VR
- Integration of VR and AR in medical education and training makes a lot of sense
- Motivation to learn can be significantly increased
- Next step: Search for possibilities and ways to utilise these didactic tools in regular teaching.
Use of digital tools
- VSI Holomedicine for the Hololens, apoQlar GmbH, Hamburg
- Proprietary VR anatomy atlas, developed in collaboration with Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab, University of Bremen
Requests for networking:
- Innovative teaching/learning methods
- Use of digital tools to improve classroom teaching
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
- Virtual rooms and development of new methods in the labs
participate@UOL at Faculty VI
Project management: Prof Dr Karsten Speck (former VPL), Isabel Müskens (Department of Studying and Teaching)
Project assistant Faculty VI: Dr Susanne Quintes
Project duration 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Participation of students and lecturers in the development of innovative teaching/learning formats
- Information and tips on integrating digital applications into teaching and the learning process
- Piloting and testing virtual learning environments together with teachers and students
Project content
- Support for digital and hybrid teaching for teachers and students
- Design of information offerings on the topic of digital teaching for students and lecturers
- Acquisition and provision of technology for hybrid teaching and the creation of digital content and teaching materials
- Supporting teachers and students in trialling virtual learning environments in teaching
- ‘Journey of discovery in digital education’ course for BA students from all faculties (tandem teaching by faculty staff from all faculties)
- Conception, coordination and realisation of ‘Tooltime - practical workshop for teachers’ (in cooperation with other faculty staff and the Learning Lab)
Use of digital tools
- UbiSim and Step.VR software for VR glasses for simulations in nursing and human medicine
- Labster for simulations of laboratory experiments in the natural sciences (open to all faculties)
- Audacity, Canva and H5P for the creation of digital content
- Mentimeter, Slido, Padlet and Flinga, among others, as applications for teaching
Requests for networking
- Exchange with other faculties regarding technology and digital tools
- Establishment of a university-wide virtual reality exchange platform
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
Poster from TdLL 2023 and extended presentation of the projects
Digitalisation of surgical teaching through virtual reality
Project duration: 01.08.2023 - 31.07.2024
Project goals
- Competence-oriented training through virtual reality before students enter the healthcare system
- Evaluation of subjective and objective knowledge gain through quantitative analysis
- Strengthening the participation of students and teachers in innovative, digital and hybrid teaching/learning formats
- Designing the university as a place of learning in the digital age that invites a diverse student and teaching staff to jointly develop studies and teaching
Project content
The surgical curriculum at the University Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery at Oldenburg Hospital is being increasingly digitalised. The aim is to design a hybrid teaching concept that is characterised by face-to-face events with the addition of digital media, inverted classrooms and a concluding virtual reality seminar. Figure 1 demonstrates the hybrid teaching concept using the cognitive masterclass. The virtual reality seminar is planned as the last teaching unit before the OSCE examination and before entering the block internship.
(Illustration follows)
In the third and final case seminar, students are immersed in a simulated emergency department using virtual reality. This allows selected practical situations to be simulated in order to practise reactions and procedures. The learning situation is transferred to an interactive, simulated room that is intended to replicate reality. The students thus have the opportunity to intervene in the events in a practical way and are thus actively involved in the training and can experience knowledge content and competences in a situational and social context. The aim of the virtual reality seminar is for students to apply and practise the skills they have previously learnt (lectures, seminars) independently and without support. The available practical knowledge can be implemented directly. It also enables students to prioritise tasks, which is particularly important in the often hectic clinical routine. The effectiveness of VR is particularly evident here. Students show a significant improvement in their learning outcomes with the help of VR. VR should therefore be seen as an extension of the traditional curriculum and was therefore chosen as the ‘final and concluding’ teaching unit.
Evaluation concept
The VR seminar will be evaluated quantitatively in the first test phase
- The first step will be to evaluate the VR course, particularly with regard to the results and impact phase.
- A questionnaire with a Likert scale is planned as a quantitative evaluation to measure competences such as (prior) knowledge and practical skills. In addition, the attitude towards VR can be queried.
- The questionnaire will be collected before and after the event. A comparison between the ‘active users’ and the ‘observing users’ is also planned in order to find out whether there are statistically significant differences between the two groups.
Use of digital tools
- StepVR software for VR glasses for simulations in medicine (FK VI)
Current state
The project has already been finalised and the virtual reality seminar will be incorporated as the last teaching unit in the WS 2023/2024 of the surgical curriculum. The VR seminar will then be quantitatively evaluated in order to assess the subjective and objective increase in knowledge, among other things.
Project management
Dr Nader El-Sourani, MD
Dr Susanne Quintes
Project coordination
Dr Nader El-Sourani, MD
Student assistants
René Klarmann
Project evaluation
Dr Nader El-Sourani, MD
René Klarmann
Judith Penning (Department of Studies & Teaching, Internal Evaluation)
Scientific support
Dr Nader El-Sourani
Dr Susanne Quintes
Project participants/cooperation partners
Department of Studies and Teaching, Internal Evaluation, Participate@UOL
Requests for networking
- Innovative teaching/learning methods
- Use of digital tools to improve classroom teaching
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
- Virtual rooms and development of new methods
Abgehört – Der Medizindidaktik Podcast
Project duration: since 03.2023
Project goals
- To impart knowledge on the subject of didactics with specific examples from medical didactics
- To create low-barrier access to information that is independent of time and place
- To arouse interest in didactic topics among teachers and students
Project content
The idea of a medical didactics podcast arose from the desire to offer knowledge on didactic topics as compactly as possible and independently of the diverse medical didactics course programme. The format should be easily accessible for teachers and students and be available at any time and from any location. The audio format seemed ideal for this. Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular and are now also frequently used in the medical field for information and training purposes. With our podcast, we would like to make the format even better known at the faculty and draw attention to the possibility of using audio contributions as a medium in our own teaching.
In terms of subject matter, we deal with fundamental topics from didactics such as different teaching/learning formats, problem-based learning or teaching myths that have been haunting universities for a long time. We provide an overview of the specialised literature and tips for implementing your own teaching.
In some episodes, we invite students, lecturers and people involved in the development of study programmes and teaching as guests. With the podcast, we also want to offer a format in which different perspectives on teaching in human medicine and different teaching formats can be discussed and heard.
Use of digital tools
In the beginning, we recorded the podcast ourselves with the Røde podcast microphone and edited it using Audacity. We now use the podcast studio of the University of Oldenburg's Start-up and Innovation Centre (GIZ) for recording and Audacity for editing and post-production. After the podcast was initially only available on the Medizindidaktik website, we now host it via Acast and can therefore also be found on popular platforms such as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Podcasts or subscribed to via an RSS feed (https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/649ac5fc97b86600119c2f36) zu abonnieren.
Current status
So far, we have produced and published 14 episodes at roughly monthly intervals on the following topics:
Episode 1: Blended Learning
Episode 2: On the lead article Learning to teach
Episode 3: Popular learning myths
Episode 4: Popular learning myths part 2
Episode 5: Myths of digital change
Episode 6: Audience Response Systems (ARS) for more interactivity in lectures
Episode 7: Feedback in teaching
Episode 8: Presentations in teaching
With Ulf Goerges, head of the simulation person programme
Episode 9: Interactive teaching methods
Concept mapping and group puzzles
Episode 10: How did this podcast come about?
with Petra Wilts, External Relations Coordinator at the Faculty
Episode 11: Gamification and virtual reality (VR)
Episode 12: Diversity in university teaching
with Dr Janina Leyk, Gender and Diversity Management Officer at Faculty VI and Decentralised Equal Opportunities Officer (POL)
Episode 13: Racism in medical education and healthcare with Simon Gerhards, PhD student in the Department of Ethics in Medicine.
Episode 14: Problem-oriented learning with Hannah Stolle, medical student on the model degree programme.
In future, we would like to invite guests even more frequently and thus present a variety of perspectives on our topics.
Project management
Thomas Schmidt (Medical Didactics) and Dr. Susanne Quintes (participate@UOL Faculty VI)
Project participants/ co-operation partners
GIZ University of Oldenburg, various guests
Requests for networking
- Exchange with the hosts of other podcasts at the University of Oldenburg
- Participation and topic requests from lecturers and students
- Networking with teachers and students who want to produce their own podcasts and use them in a teaching/learning context
Augmented and virtual reality in medical education and training
Project duration: 01.02.2021 - 31.01.2024
Project goals
- Testing the integration of virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) in medical education and training
- Recording person-specific characteristics that can influence learning success when using VR and AR
Project content
Background: Learning about human anatomy is an important part of studying human medicine. Good anatomical knowledge facilitates the understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms and is necessary for the interpretation of radiological and sonographic images. The difficulty lies in transferring the two-dimensional knowledge into a three-dimensional situs and into imaging procedures. For this reason, the effect of VR and AR tools on teaching was and is being analysed in three different studies.
Study 1: Different groups of test subjects (32 students/ 8 junior doctors/ 5 medical specialists) were each asked 5 multiple choice questions on 5 patient cases. In a first session, only the MRIs were made available on the screen; in a second session, the test subjects were able to answer the questions using the 3D models in the VR atlas. The number of correct answers and the processing time were analysed.
Study 2: In this randomised controlled study, 61 students of human medicine at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg completed a clinical anatomy seminar on the pancreas either with or without the help of augmented reality glasses. After the teaching unit, a survey was conducted using an online questionnaire. The increase in knowledge acquisition was tested using multiple-choice questions (MC questions). In both groups, images of segmented 3D models and CT images were used on the PC screen. The speed and correctness of answering the MC questions was recorded.
Study 3: In this prospective cohort study with a test-retest design, 39 students of human medicine in Oldenburg completed a pre-test with knowledge questions on liver anatomy (MC questions). This was followed by an AR seminar on liver anatomy and finally another test with MC questions, a test of spatial visualisation (GVVT), stereoscopic vision (Titmus test), a subjective assessment of the benefits of AR and demographic data.
Use of digital tools
- AR software for visualising the 3D liver and pancreas models: VSI Holomedicine from apoQIarVR
- Software: Self-programmed anatomy atlas in collaboration with the CGVR working group at the University of Bremen
Current status
Study 1: In the MRT condition, students answered fewer questions correctly on average than residents, specialists and senior physicians (40% vs. approx. 55%). In the VR condition, the median for all groups was over 80% and some test subjects were even able to answer all questions correctly (see Fig. 1). VR thus clearly had an advantage for all groups in terms of correctly answered questions and the majority of students can almost be raised to the level of more experienced doctors using the 3D models in VR. The processing time is comparable for all groups, but also improves significantly in the VR condition. The technology was seen as very useful and helpful across the board.
Study 2: There were no differences between the AR and VR groups in terms of the number of correct MC questions (see Fig. 2) and the time taken to answer the MC questions, as well as the motivation to learn and the evaluation of the study seminar according to the school grading system. However, 96.9% (n=31) of the participants in the AR group stated that they enjoyed learning with the AR glasses. The new technology also improved their spatial understanding of anatomy (84.4%, n=27), stimulated their active learning (71.9%, n=23) and improved their motivation to learn anatomy (87.5%, n=28). The AR group was significantly more likely to recommend the seminar to others than the control group.
Study 3: The students had significantly more correctly answered MC questions in the post-test than in the pre-test (p<0.001). Spatial awareness was not relevant for the improvement. All participants stated that they enjoyed learning with AR. Their spatial understanding of anatomy (94.8%, n=37), stimulation of active learning (97.8%, n=38) and increased motivation to learn anatomy (89.7%, n=35) improved. Further analyses are still pending.
Summary: Even if the increase in learning success when using VR and AR could only be clearly demonstrated in one of the three studies, our projects show that the integration of VR and AR in medical education and training is very useful and can significantly increase motivation to learn. We must now look for ways and means to utilise these didactic tools in regular teaching.
Project management
Prof Dr Dirk Weyhe
Management team
Prof Dr Anja Bräuer
PD Dr Navid Tabriz
PD Dr Veysel Ödemis
Dr Daniela Salzmann
Project Coordination
Dr Verena Uslar
Student assistants
Joshua Preibisch
Christopher Strotmann
Digital support services
apoQlar GmbH, Hamburg
Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality Lab, University of Bremen
Project participants/cooperation partners
AG Anatomy, Prof Anja Bräuer, CvO University
CGVR, Prof Gabriel Zachmann, University of Bremen
apoQlar GmbH, Managing Director Sirko Pelzl, Hamburg
Requests for networking
- Innovative teaching/learning methods
- Use of digital tools to improve classroom teaching
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
- Virtual rooms and development of new methods in the labs
participate@UOL at Faculty VI
Project duration: 01.08.2021 - 31.07.2024
Project team member
Dr Susanne Quintes
Project goals
- Strengthening the participation of students and teachers in innovative, digital and hybrid teaching/learning formats
- Enabling joint trialling of innovative teaching/learning formats and sustainable implementation in practice
- Informing and advising students and lecturers on technology and applications in the field of digital and hybrid teaching
- Supporting teachers and students in the piloting of virtual learning environments in teaching
Project content
Information and participation programmes for lecturers and students
Our faculty offers training courses and workshops on digital applications and provides individual counselling on digital teaching and innovative teaching concepts. The Stud.IP project Digital Teaching Faculty VI is available to all teaching staff. After registering, the functions of Stud.IP can be tested and used, and examples of other digital applications in teaching are shown.
A website on digital teaching methods has been created in collaboration with the Department of Medical Didactics and a podcast provides information on didactic topics.
The ‘Digital Teaching’ working group meets monthly and is open to all students and teaching staff of the faculty for exchange and discussion.
Since the winter semester 2023/2024, the faculty members of participate@UOL have been jointly organising the event ‘Entdeckungsreise Digitale Bildung’ (Journey of Discovery in Digital Education), which can be attended by Bachelor's students from all faculties. Here, the use of digital tools is practised and critically discussed, and students from different faculties can exchange ideas.
Technology for digital teaching
A Logitech MeetUp and a MeetingOwl are available to the faculty for hybrid teaching formats. A ‘Teaching Lab’ is also being set up, where additional mobile accessories for digital and hybrid teaching, such as tripods, cameras and microphones, are offered and lecturers are supported in their use. We currently use 5 Meta Quest 2 glasses with an additional integrated power bank, a router, an Alienware gaming laptop and a stationary gaming computer to implement virtual learning environments.
Virtual teaching/learning rooms in human medicine and nursing
The approximately 300 browser-based scientific simulations on the Labster platform are currently available to all faculties for a trial period of one year. At Faculty VI, these will be used on a trial basis in the winter semester 23/24 as digital teaching materials to accompany classroom courses.
Since the start of the project, 5 Meta Quest 2 VR glasses have been set up and the use of the two software packages Step.VR and UbiSim has been established. In the summer semester 2023, practical tests with both systems were successfully carried out in workshop formats in the teaching of human medicine and with nurses at the Hanseatic Institute. In the winter semester 23/24, Step.VR was already used in a surgery seminar (Dr Nader El-Sourani) with around 80 students. The teaching format was evaluated in collaboration with Judith Penning as part of a student research project (René Klarmann). Together with Dr Julia Gockel, UbiSim is currently developing its own scenarios for the new Master of Advanced Nursing course for use in the training of nurses. The realisation of interprofessional formats is also planned for the future.
OER
A padlet with an overview of freely available game-based applications for teaching is currently being developed. In addition, an OER on the topic of racism is being developed together with the medical ethics working group. An interactive map of Oldenburg University Medicine is planned for the future.
Use of digital tools
- UbiSim and Step.VR software for VR glasses for simulations in nursing and human medicine
- Labster for simulations of laboratory experiments in the natural sciences (open to all faculties)
- Audacity, Canva and H5P for the creation of digital content
- Mentimeter, Slido, Padlet and Flinga, among others, as applications for teaching.
Project management
Prof. Dr. Karsten Speck (former VPL) / Isabel Müskens (Department Studying and Teaching)
Management team (advisory board)
Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery
Prof Dr Katrin Kleinschmidt-Schinke
Prof Dr Astrid Nieße
Prof Dr Andreas Rauh
Prof Dr Mark Schweda
Prof Dr Mark Siebel
Prof Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter
PD Dr Wolfgang Müskens
Heike Andermann
Björn Gebert
Isabel Larisch
Project Coordination
Peter England (Department of Studying and Teaching)
Student assistants
Lena Herrmann
Isabel Larisch
Wiebke Johanna Legtenborg
Ntsanyem Njeukwa Bounkeu
Friederike Ulses
Lorenz Wahmhoff
Christoph Wollesen
Vanessa Reichenberg
Project evaluation
Penning, Judith (Department of Studies and Teaching, Internal Evaluation)
Scientific support for participation
Dr Nadine Hüllbrock (FK I)
Esther Jahns (FK III)
Sarah Meier (FK III)
Scientific support for development area 2
Prof Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter (FK I, Institute of Education)
Digital support programmes
Laura Peters (FK I)
Hardo Schencke (FK II)
Vanessa Barbagiovanni Bugiacca (FK III)
Katharina Schmees (FK IV)
Anja Wübben (FK V)
Dr Susanne Quintes (FK VI)
Tim Lüdeke (ZSKB)
Teaching Lab
Laura Peters (FK I)
Hardo Schencke (FK II)
Vanessa Barbagiovanni Bugiacca (FK III)
Katharina Schmees (FK IV)
Anja Wübben (FK V)
Dr Susanne Quintes (FK VI)
Claudia Lehmann (Department of Studies and Teaching, University Didactics)
Learning Lab
Petra Janssen (BIS)
Lars Seehausen (BIS, Media Technology)
Open Educational Resources (OER)
Dr Wolfgang Müskens (Competence Centre for Credit Transfer)
Susanne Schorer (COER)
AskOne portal
Tabea Weinberg (BIS)
Nico Müller on behalf of Rami Jasim and Ann Louise Yanich (IT Services)
Project participants/cooperation partners
Department of Studies and Teaching, BIS, IT Services, ZSKB, all six faculties
Requests for networking
- Innovative teaching/learning methods
- Use of digital tools in classroom teaching
- Student participation in the development of teaching/learning designs
- Establishment of a university-wide exchange platform for virtual reality